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lIBaARv
OF T«E

OMIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

PLAIN OF MELAKH, AND IITVEP EUPHRATES.

BEDOUIN TEIBES OF
THE EUPHEATES.

LADY ANNE BLUNT.

EDITED, WITH A PfiEFACE AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE
ARABS AND THEIR HORSES,

By W. S. B.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

WITH MAP AND SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR.

LONDON :

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
1879.

LONDON :

BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHlTEKBIAaS.

vA ■ ■

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY

HIS HIGHNESS

NEWAB BAHADOOR EKBAL OOD DOWLEH,

THE ILLUSTRIOUS DESCENDANT OF
THE PRINCES OF OUDE.

PKEFACE BY THE EDITOK.

♦

At the present moment, when all eyes are turned,
towards the East, and when Asia, long forgotten by
the rest of the world, seems about to reassert itself
and take its old plaee in history, the following
sketch of what is actually going ou, in one of its
most famous districts, should not be without interest
to the English public.

The Euphrates Valley is familiar to every one by
name, as a future liigh-road to India ; and we have
it on the highest authority that its possession
by a friendly power is vital to British interests.
Schemes, too, are known to be on foot for running
a railroad down it to the Persian Gulf, and adver-
tisements have appeared, with maps on \\diich such
a line is already traced. Yet how few, even of those;
who write these things, have any acejuaintance with
the regions talked of or knowledge of tlie tribes
Avhich inhabit them. !

The fact is, the Euphrates is more of a mystery

via

Preface by the Editor.

to the general public than any river of equal im-
portance in the old world. It has never been popu-
larly described, and since the days of Xenophon, has^
haixlly been described at all. AVith the exception
of Colonel Chesney, who was commissioned by AA^il-
liam the Fourth, in 183.5, to survey the river, and
who has given us two bulky volumes of statistics
and an excellent chart as the results of his expedi-
tion, no traveller, as far as I am aware, has made
a study of the district or narrated his adven-
tures there in print. Till twenty years ago the
Euphrates was a dangerous neighbourhood for
Asiatics as well as Europeans. The Anazeh were
lords and masters of the river ; and travellers were
right in giving it a wide berth. But now the cara-
van road is a tolerably safe one, at least in the
winter months ; and there is no reason why some
enterprising Cook should not lead his “ personally
conducted parties ” from Aleppo to Bagdad as easily
as from Dan to Beersheba. Still, I think I am not
mistaken when I say that the author of these
vmlumes is the first bond fide tourist who has taken
the Euphrates road, and I make no apology for
publishing her experience of it.

AVith regard to the Author’s further adventures,
and the account given by her of the Bedouin tribes of
Mesopotamia and the western deserts, I shall also, I

Preface by the Editor.

think, be excused. The desert indeed has often been
described, and most of the tribes here introduced
liave been visited before, but the circumstances of
the present journey are new ; and these volumes
will be the first attempt at giving a comprehensive
view of Desert life and Desert politics. No pre-
vious traveller has, as far as I am aware, visited
the Independent Shammar in Mesopotamia or the
Anazeh in the Hamad.’* The desert lias been
usually to Europeans a sort of Tom Tiddler's
ground, where, instead of seeking the tribes, it has
been an object to slip by unseen. Circumstances
have, in the present instance, changed the position ;
and the desert has been for a time the home of the
traveller, as it is of the tribes themselves.

For my own share in this work (the chapters at
the end of the second volume), I fear I have hardly
so good a plea to urge. “For twenty years resident
at Bagdad,” or “ for nine years engaged in mis-
sionary work in Syria,” inscribed upon the title
page, would, I know, enhance the value of what I
have written ; but this cannot be. Neither the

* Sir Henry Laycird may perhaps have something to say to this,,
hut his diaries are not yet published, while Dr. Porter, Canon
Tristram, and Mr. Graham know only the tribes of the Syrian
frontier. Mr. Pal grave passed through the desert as a townsman,
and gives a townsman’s account of it. The onlj^ living picture
published, of Bedouin life and politics, is the “ Ptccit de Patalla,’^
noted by Lamartine, and by some accounted fabulous.

Preface by the Editor.

author of the journal, nor I can lay claim to a more
serious position towards the public than that of
tourists, who have had the good fortune to see a-
little more than is generally seen, and to learn a few
things more than are generally known. We left
England with as little intention of instructing our
fellow countrymen as travellers need have ; and it
was not until we saw that fortune had put us in the
way of acquiring really valuable knowledge that we
set ourselves seriously to work. At the same time
I would remark that the value of labour done is
not always in proportion to the time bestowed on
it, nor even to the skill or courage of the performer.
Chance often plays a considerable part in the most
serious undertakings ; and chance has favoured us
here.

To begin with, our journey was made at an
interesting moment, when the Bulgarian war was at
its height, and when the strain on the resources of
the Porte had so far relaxed the bonds of discipline
in these outlying provinces, that the inhabitants
were at their ease with us in speech and action.
Then we had the singular good fortune to reap a
whole harvest of information, which others had
been preparing for years, in the yery field we had
chosen.'

Again, in our visit to the Bedouin tribes, circum-

Preface by the Editor.

stances obliged us to go without escort, interpreters,
or for the most part, guides, a position which, as it
turned out, more than anything else predisposed
those we came to see in our favour. There was no
real danger in this, or real difficulty, but it was
unusual ; and the Bedouins fully appreciated the
confidence shown in them. They became our
friends. The Desert, last winter, like the rest of
the world, was in confusion ; and we were fortunate
enough to be witnesses of a crisis in politics there,
and of some episodes of a war. In these we could
not help being interested ; and the sympathy we
felt in their troubles re-acted on our new friends
and invited confidences which would hardly else
have been made to strangers. We thus acquired,
in a few weeks, more real knowledge of the Desert
and its inhabitants than has often been amassed in
as many years spent in the frontier towns of Syria.

This must be my excuse if, in the concluding
chapters of this work, I have ventured to speak
somewhat ax cathedra, and if I have allowed what
was originally only to have been a journal, to
assume a more pretentious garb. These chapters I
am alone responsible for. They are an attempt to
epitomise the information collected in the Desert ;
and, though I am far from vouching for the entire
accuracy of my sketch of life and manners, and still

xii Preface by the Editor.

less of the stories I have repeated, I can at least
affirm that I have taken little from books, and much
from direct sources.

I have added what I think will interest many, —
a sketch of Arab horse breeding, with a genealogical
table of the descent of the thoroughbred Arabian
horse.

The choice of a proper system of spelling has
been a , great difficulty in the editing of this work.
Neither the author nor I have any knowledge of
written Arabic, nor, colloquially, of any Arabic but
that of the Desert. It has, however, been repug-
nant to our taste to adopt a system entirely
phonetic. “ Ali ” cannot be spent “ Arlee,” nor
“ Huseyn ” “ Hoosain,” without one’s eyes aching.
On the other hand, few English readers would care
to see the French “ Ouady,” or the German “ Dsche-
bel” for “Wady” and “ Jebel.” We have taken
refuge, then, from greater evils in a modification of
the old “ lingua franca” spelling used by Galland,
in his . translation of the Arabian Nights. The
vowels are written as in Italian, except in the case
of the long t, or before a double consonant, where
they follow the English rule, the consonants also
being as in English. We do not, however, pretend
to accuracy, and wherever a conventional spelling
exists, have allowed it to override our rules. The

Preface by the Editor.

xiu

wliole work, I must explain, lias been written in
haste — more haste than would be excusable, if new
travels did not lure us back prematurely to the
East.

In conclusion, and while protesting complete sub-
mission to the learned on all matters connected
with Oriental lore, I take my stand against the
merely untravelled critic in the words of the ex-
cellent Arabic proverb, which says : “ The off fore-
foot of my donkey stands upon the centre of the
earth. If you don’t believe me, go and measure for
yourself.”

W. S. B.

Ceabbet, October, 1878.

CONTENTS TO VOL. I

CHAPTER I.

PAGE

Projects of travel — A visit to the Koyal Geographical Society’s
rooms — We start for Aleppo — The voyage to Scanderoon — A
bagman’s tale of the Euphrates — Aleppo buttons — We land in
Asia . 1

CHAPTER IL

The Port of Scanderoon — Belies of the Levant Company — We agree
with a muleteer for conveyance to Aleppo — Bey Ian ponies — We
cross the “Syrian Gates” — Murder of a muleteer — Turkish
soldiers — Sport on the Orontes — A night in a roadside khan — •
Snowstorms — A dead horse — The village of Tokat and its in-
habitants— A last day of misery — We arrive at Aleppo . . 9

CHAPTER III.

AVe are entertained by a wise man — Tales of my landlord — He
Jedaan laughed at the Pasha’s beard, and made his friend Ahni
happy — The Anazeh and their migrations — We are inspired wi
the idea of visiting the Bedouins — Seyd Ahmet and the Jews —

A sturdy beggar 26

CHAPTER IV.

The Castle of Aleppo — Inscription relating to King David —
Legend of St. Zacharias and the Alu^din — The prisons of Aleppo
— Strange justice— Curro the Kurd — AVe give half-a-crown to a
murderer, and offend public feeling

XVI

Contents.

CHAPTEE V.

PAG55

buy horses, being resolved to join the Anazeh — Hagar — News
from the Desert — Wars and rumours of wars — Jedaan at bay —

The world is much “mixed up ” — A chapter on politics . . 57

CHAPTER VI.

IVe leave Aleppo — Wandering in the dark — An Arab village — The
Desert — First view of the Euphrates — A Weldi camp— Zaptiehs
— A melancholy exile and a dish of franco! ins — Bivouacking by
the river 72

CHAPTER VIL

Lion district of the Euphrates — The Afuddli hunters--A Bedouin
Barnum — The Kaimakam of Eakka — A wild ass — Sport in the
tamarisk jungle — A wonderful horse — We arrive at Deyr . . 89

CHAPTER VIII.

Husejm Pasha’s paternal government — The Ottoman policy in the
Desert — “Divide et impera” — We are placed under surveil-
lance, and hospitabl}^ thwarted in our design of visiting the
Anazeh — Deyr, the best market for pure Arabian horses — First
talk of the Shammar — Their hero, Abd-ul-Kerim, his adventures
and death — They threaten Deyr — A dishonest zaptieh — I fall
into a well, and am rescued — We depart for Bagdad . . .109

CHAPTER IX.

A fresh start — We join a caravan bound for Bagdad — The son of a
horse — Turkish ladies on a journey — How to tether a fidgetty
horse — Salahiyeh — An encampment of Agheyl — The Mudir of
Abukamal — Wolves at night — Wild boars and others— The
Boatsw'ain’s log — Palm groves — We arrive at Ana . . . 134

CHAPTER X.

A Bedouin foray — We converse with a ghost — Engagement of Zenil
Aga — We resolve to depart — The Kaimakam accompanies us —
Entertained by Sotamm — A Bedouin meal — News from home . 151

Contents.

XVI 1

CHAPTER XI.

PAGE

Modern Bagdad a poor place — Causes of its decay — The Plague —
Midhat Pasha takes down its walls and lets in a deluge—

Dr. Colville’s view of the Bedouins — An Indian Prince — Akif
Pasha’s fortune — His stud — We buy asses and camels, and plan
an evasion 186

CHAPTER XII.

The King of Oude and his “Desert-house ” — We are sent away with
gifts — The Mesopotamian desert — Pleasures of freedom — How to
navigate the desert — Alarms and false alarms — Stalking a wolf
— We reach the Shammar 212

CHAPTER XIII.

Perhdn’s camp at Sherghat— His wives and sons — We diplomatise- —

We start to cross Mesopotamia— Ismail on horseflesh — We are
received by Smeyr— His account of Hejd, its rulers, and its
horses 255

CHAPTER XIV.

The city and palace of El Haddr — We are mobbed in the ruins —
Smeyr sends us on our way — We put our house in order and
march westwards — Quarrel with Ismail — He leaves us — We dis-
cover salt lakes — A wade through the mud — A silly old man —

Paris at last 281

CHAPTER XV.

A gentleman of the desert and his mother, the Hatoun Amsheh —
Well-behaved boys — Tellal — Paris goes out shooting — He swims
the river — Swearing brotherhood — Eashid ibn Ali and the
Sheykh of Samuga — The Yezidis — A raft on the Khabur —
Camels swimming — Parewell to Paris — A gallop in to Deyr . 312

VOL. I

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I.

Plain of Melakh, and Eivel Euphrates . . Frontispiece

PAGE

Citadel of Aleppo 44

SxVRACENic Mill on the Euphrates

Mieddin and Leaning Mosque 134

A Wolf Course near Rumady 174

Gaet Shammar moving their Camp 255

Tellal starts on a Ghazu 312

Map of the Euphrates Valley

At the end.

BEDOUIN TEIBES

THE EUPHEATES.

CHAPTEE I.

Wherein of antres vast and de'^arts idle,

Rough quarries, rocks, and hills whose heads touch heaven,
It was my hint to speak. Shakespeake.

Projects of travel — A visit to the Eoyal Geographical Society’s
I r rooms — We start for Aleppo — The voj^age to Scanderoou — A

bagman’s tale of the Eujihrates — Alej^po buttons — We land in
Asia.

We left England on the 20th of Eoveinher, 1877,
Avith the intention of visiting Bagdad, and of spend-
ing the winter in some part of Asia, where Ave
should find the climate good and the roads not too
much frequented hy Europeans. We had already
A’isited more than one Arabic-speaking country, and
had acquired a taste for Bedouin life and manners,
Avith a little of the Arabic language, and Ave Avere
anxious to improve our knoAvledge of these things
by a more serious journey than any Ave had yet
undertaken. There had, indeed, been a sort of
progression in our traA'els, and Ave had been carried
by them alAA'ays further and further eastAAUirds,

VOL. I.

Bedouin Tribes of the EiipJirates. [ch. i.

passing from Spain to Barbary, and from Barbary
to Egypt, and thence to Syria, so that it was
natural that the Euphrates valley and Mesopotamia
should be chosen as the scene of onr next campaign.

When it had come to actually planning onr
journey, however, a number of difficulties at once
began to show themselves. It was surprising how
little information was to be got, even from the
sources of geographical knowledge most respected
in England. Bradshaw, whom we naturally con-
sulted first, held out the golden hope of a regular
line of land communications through Aleppo, while
rn his map a railway route Avas freely traced ; but
it was more than doubtful whether all this could be
taken literally, and whether the absence of dates and
tariffs in the account did not point to the advertise-
ment of some future scheme rather than to a state-
ment of existing facts. At the Eoyal Geographical
Society’s rooms, to which we next turned, we Avere
shoAA'ii the maps and surveys made by Colonel
Chesney in 1836, as the latest on the subject, no
traveller connected AA’ith the Society having visited
the Euphrates valley since that date, unless it might
be Mr. Layard or Colonel EaAAdinson.

We Avere recommended to take Constantinople on
our AAmy, and to consult the British Ambassador
there, or, on second thoughts, Ave might call on Sir
Henry himself, who Avas in London, and would be
sure to pay all possible attention to our inquiries.
Erom his long residence at Bagdad he Avould be the

cn. I.]

A Visil to Savile Row.

fittest person to advise ns. Sir Henry, to Avlioin
Wilfrid sent in Iris card, received liiin with courtesy
and explained that the Euphrates Valley Railway
had not yet been opened; that a land journey by
that route was impracticable, owing to the hostile
tribes Avhich inhabited certain villages on the river ;
that the usual road to Bagdad lay through Diarhekr
and Mosul, an interesting route, but passing too
near the seat of war between Russia and Turkey
to be recommended at the present moment. Sir
Henry, all things considered, thought we could not
do better than take the line of Turkish steamers
which made trips weekly from Aleppo to Bagdad.
On these we should be safe and comfortable ;
Messrs. Lynch of Tower Street would give us all
particulars, and Messrs. Cook could no doubt supply
through tickets if desmed. But, though we went
aAvay rather crestfallen at so simple an ansAver from
our oracle, Messrs. Lynch could tell us nothing of
any steamers hut their OAAm, Avhich Avere on the
Tigris not the Euphrates ; nor could they suggest
any shorter Avay of reaching Bagdad than by
Bombay and the Persian Gulf. The only other
person, Avho gave us information on the sul)ject,
Avas a gentleman Avho had travelled some years ago
in Persia, and Avho had descended the Tigris from
IMosul to Bagdad on a raft. He supposed that
something similar might A’cry likely be found on
the Euphrates, and described the raft as a pleasant
and commodious AA'ay of travelling, especially in hot

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [cn. i.

weather, as the passengers sat for the most j)art
with their feet in the water.

Besides this difSculty in the matter of correct
information about the country we were going to,
there were other obstacles, Avhich at the time
seemed even more serious. Kars had just fallen,
and Armenia was supposed to he full of disbanded
troops, flying from the seat of war. Osman Pasha
was invested in Plevna, and every soldier and even
every policeman in the Ottoman dominions had
been hurried away to Constantinople for the defence
of the capital. The newspapers were full of sensa-
tional tales of massacre, insurrection and disorder
in the provinces, thus stripped of their protectors ;
and it was asserted that a general outburst of
Mussulman fanaticism was imminent. English
travellers, especially, might he expected to fare ill,
for the feeling in Turkey was growing very bitter
against England, who had “ betrayed ” her. At
best the whole country was overrun by deserters
from the army and by robbers, who Avere taking
advantage of the disturbed times to set law and
order at defiance. One paper asserted that a
mutiny was hatching in India, another that the
plague had appeared at Bagdad. It did not seem
to be the proper moment for going to such a
country.

Fortunately hoAvever Ave are too old travellers to
be easily impressed by tales of lions and robbers,
even supported, as they Avere in this instance, by

CH. I.]

Lions in the Path.

the authority of special correspondents of the Timesi.
Wilfrid declared that they were all nonsense, that
Aleppo was net in Armenia, and that the last place
a beaten army would retreat to would be the Syrian
desert ; that if the plague existed at Bagdad so did
the small-pox in London, and, finally, that we
should “ know all about it all in due time.” So I
was fain to be content with his assurance and to
hope for the best ; and, as it turned out, no moment
could have been more favourable for the journey
we were proposing. If the Turks had been vic-
torious they might perhaps have grown insolent
and dangerous, but in their misfortune they were
only too happy to grasp any hand as a friend’s.
The conscription too for the army had taken all the
riotous youths away from the country districts, few
but old men and women remaining, while, as for
the absence of soldiers and police, it was being
hailed by all honest men in Syria as a pleasant
respite from most of what made life irritating.
Besides, no one in Europe can imagine how very
slowly news travels in the East, nor how very
suspiciously it is received even when at last it
comes. Wo had finished our journey and were
coming home long before the news of the Sultan’s
disasters was fully known in the desert. It was
nevertheless with something like the solemnity of
a last farewell that we embraced our friends and
finally turned our faces to the East.

The first point for Avhieh we Avere to make

Bedo^nn Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. i.

(guided by tlie only definite piece of information
we had acquired) was Aleppo, of which the seaport,
Alexandretta or Seanderoon, may be reached from
Marseilles by a line of steamers which makes its
weekly tour of the Leyant. I will not describe the
twelve days of our voyage further than to notice
the occasions on which we received intelligence of
the mysterious land which lay before us. The
captain, honest man, had navigated the Mediter-
ranean for nearly forty years, but had never before
heard of passengers landing at Alexandretta on
their way to Bagdad. Aleppo he had heard of.
It V ms a hundred miles inland, and there was no
road to it. Tourists gave it a wide berth on account
of the button which bears its name, a strange and
not very agreeable malady, which attacks all who
stay in or even pass through the district. Of this he
gave us a most alarming account, which I will repeat,
deducting his exaggerations and premising only
that Ave neither of us fell victims to its dangerous
presence. The Aleppo button is a SAvelling AAdiich
comes upon the face or hands or sometimes upon the
feet and breaks into a boil. It lasts for six months
or a year and then goes aAvay. Except in the case
of children or AAdien aggravated by attempts at
treatment, it leaA'es hardly a scar, but, Avdiile it
lasts, it is an annoying disfigurement. Any attempt
to drive it aAA'ay makes the evil Averse, and nothing
can be done beyond keeping the place untouched and
■availing till it heals. Children suffer more seAmrely

CH. I.]

The Aleppo Button.

than grown-up people, for it is difficult to keep
them patient under the irritation for so long a time ;
and the consequence is that nearly all the inha-
bitants of Aleppo are scarred deeply either on the
forehead or the cheek. It is not known what causes
the button, whether the water or the air ; no regime
and no care seem able to elude it, neither is there
any known remedy. Some ascribe it to the Abater of
a certain stream at Aleppo, but Mosul, Bagdad and
indeed all the toAvns of Upper Mesopotamia are
subject to it, under different names and slightly
different forms. At Bagdad it is called the “ date-
mark.” There are also terrible stories of traA^ellers
being attacked by it years after they had forgotten
their danger. “ Quelquefois apres dix ans,” said
the ship’s doctor, “ le bouton Amus Auent.” But
enough of this not very pleasant subject.

At Smyrna a commis-voyageur from the Pays
de Yaud came on board and added his mite of
information. He Avas “travelling in pills,” he told
us, and offered to take anything in exchange for his
AA'ares, from a cargo of figs to an ostrich feather.
He had seen much and suffered much in the cause
of trade, having pushed his fortunes on one occa-
sion so far as Abyssinia and the Blue Nile. He
had traA’’elled from Tifiis to Bagdad, and from.
Bagdad to Bamascus Avith a caraA'an. It had cost
lum, he said, £300 and a deal of troid)le. He had
never heard of any one visiting Bagdad for pleasAirc,
and advised us, if Ave did go there, to do a little

Bedouin Tribes of the Eu-phrates. [ch. r.

business in silk. It might help to pay our expenses.
He had seen the Euj)hrates. It was a large river
like the Ehone, hut without steamers on it. The
inhabitants were “ de la canaille.” He thought
we should do better by spending the winter at
Beyrout, where there was a French hotel and a
cafe chantant.

More precise, if not more amusing, informants
were a Pole in the Turkish service and a French
engineer, on their Avay to Adana. One had bought
horses at Deyr, a town on the Euphrates, and the
other had taken part in an experimental voyage
made by a Government steamer up the river four
years before. Heither of these considered a land
journey practicable, except by Diarbekr and Mosul,
a five-weeks’ march by caravan, and then by raft
down the Tigris. Nobody went by the Euphrates,
Avhile the other was a post road. “ Et frequentee ?”
we inquired. “ Oui, mais mal frequentee.” It did
not sound assuring.

But, on the 5th of December, our doubts and
hesitations, if any we had, were brought to a sudden
end by the arrival of the ‘‘ Alphee ” in the bay of
Scanderoon ; and in the early morning of that day
we found ourselves fairly landed in Asia, with our
troubles close before us.

CHAPTEK II.

“ My father, you must know, was originally a Turkey merchant.”

Tbistkam Shaitdt.

The Port of Scanderoon — Eelics of the Levant Company — We
agree with a muleteer for conveyance to Aleppo — Beylan
ponies — We cross the “ Syrian Gates’’ — Murder of a muleteer
— Turkish soldiers — Sport on the Orontes — A night in a road-
side khan — Snowstorms — A dead horse — The village of Tokat
and its inhabitants — A last day of misery — We arrive at
Aleppo.

AlexajSTDretta, or Scanderoon as it was called
in the days of the Levant Company, of which, if I
conjectnre rightly, the elder Shandy must have been
a member, is now little more than a collection of
hovels by the sea-shore, surrounded by a marsh and
backed by the steep slopes of the Amanus hills.
Its position, in a land-locked bay possessing good
anchorage, the only good anchorage on the Syrian
coast, and at the far corner of the Mediterranean
where Asia Minor and Syria meet, made it a j)ort of
great importance once ; and for many years it was
the chief station of the English trade with India,
lint the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope
brought Scanderoon its first misfortunes, and tlie
overland route through Egypt its death blow. It is
fifty years now since the Levant Company wound

lo Bedoidn Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. h.

up its affairs and disappeared (tire East India
Company, its imitator and rival, lias done so since) ;
and nothing remains in token of its former prosperity
in this its principal seaport hut a pile of ruins, its
‘‘ Commercial House,” and the graves of the many
Englishmen who lived, made money and died there.
It was certainly a melancholy sight, this commercial
house, the haunt of bats and frogs ; for the marsh
had already reclaimed its prey, and the court yard
was now some inches under water. It gave one the
ague to look at it. Scanderoon, at the present day,
boasts neither inn nor mosque, and its bazaar was
burnt to the ground some weeks before we arrived ;
bnt it is still the nearest seaport for the Bagdad
caravans, and if ever the Euphrates railway is more
than a project, may again become the rival of
Alexandria. The marsh, they say, might easily be
drained, and with it the fevers now common would
disappear. The town enjoys about the most
beautiful view in the world across the bay to the
Caramanian hills, just now white with snow.*

We were lodged comfortably at the Vice-Con-
sulate by M. Catoni, a Corsican by birth, and lately
appointed British Vice-Consul, as he had previously
been Swedish and Greek. English travellers are
rare at Alexandretta, and we were most hospitably
entertained by him, all trouble being taken off onr
hands in the matter of arrangements for our jonrney
to Aleppo. Hadji Mahmoud, a respectable carrier

* This account was written before the annexation of Cyprus.

CH. II.]

The Port of Scanderoon.

1 1

of that to'\\Ti, was sent for, and engaged to convey
us and our baggage, for four hundred piastres
(£3 45.), and see us safelj^ to our destination. He
was a good-looking man, as most of the Syrians are,
handsomely dressed in a striped turban, a striped
jacket and strijjed trowsers, with a pair of new red
morocco hoots, of which he seemed not a little
proud. Three mules Avould he enough for our
baggage, and he wordd provide horses for ourselves.
It seemed a reasonable sum for the four days’
journey, as we were in December, and the roads
might be expected to be bad. Not that there was
any sign of winter yet where we were. Alex-
andretta with its blue sea and cloudless sky looked
the home of an eternal summer ; and only the snow,
a hundred miles away on the Taurus mountains,
shoAved that winter had begun. "VYe Avere to take a
provision of bread for the road, as none Avas to be
had there ; but Ave shoidd find, it seemed, eggs, and
the traditional foAvd AAdiich Avaits for travellers in
every quarter of the globe. The consular cook Avent
Avith me to market, and Avith his assistance I
purchased thirty of the flat Arab loaA^es, just as they
Avere turned out of the OA'en, some salt, pcpj)er, a
flask of oil, a frying-pan and a string of onions.
With bread and onions one may travel far.

Thus provided, and Avith a good bag of heshlilcs,
the base coin of Syria, for immediate needs, and
spirits I’ising at the prospect of fine Aveather and the
ncAV country open before us, avc rode out at an early

Bedouin Tribes of the EiLphrates. [ch. n.

hour on the 6th of December, through the swampy
streets of Scanderoon, across the marsh and hy a
rising road towards what are called the Syrian
Gates, the mountain jiass of Aleppo. It was a
warm morning, and we could have almost been
persuaded to leave our heavy cloaks behind us hut
for an appearance of wind far ont at sea. The
marsh was full of kingfishers, sitting on the tele-
graph wires, and now and then pouncing Avith a
splash into the water. Our ponies, ragged little
beasts, stepped out at a good pace, and the hells
of the leaduig mule jingled merrily. There was a
sense of expectation in the air Avith the thought that
Ave Avere at last fairly on our road through Asia,
and that mysterious promise of adA^enture Avhich
makes the first day of a journey only less de-
lightful than the last. Our road noAV left the
causeAvay, which had crossed the marsh, and Avonnd
among the ravines and Avatercourses of the hill side.
"We had plenty of felloAV travellers, riders on mules,
horses, donkeys, and camels, and people on foot,
(for this is perhaps the greatest high road in j^sia).
But they passed us Avithout remark or salutation,
and only one or tAVO exchanged a nod AV'ith Mah-
mond. As Ave turned the shoulder of the hill Ave
AAmre met hy a violent Avind Avhich nearly hleAV ns
hack over our ponies’ tails, and sufficiently ex-
plained the “Arhite horses” Ave had seen out at sea,
and the enormous capotes into Avhich Mahmoud and
his assistant Kasim had built themselves. Tavo

CII. II.]

First Day in Asia.

hours’ struggle, however, brought us to a place of
shelter and a halt in the town of Beylan,* the first
station on our road, where the consular cavass, Avho
had hitherto led the Avay on a good-looking white
horse Avith three shoes off and one shoe on, made
his salaam and left us at the khan. The khan Avas
a respectable place enough, Avith a roAV of empty
rooms on an upper floor, bescrihbled Avith the names
of sailors and LeAmntine shopkeepers, mostly French,
Avho had stopped there on their Avay to or from
Antioch ; and there we waited half an hour while a
Ichdivaji (coffee seller) fried us some eggs and
brought coffee from his shop hard by.

We Avere noAV fairly left to our OAvn resources ;
and these, for the moment, appeared very slender.
The feAV Avords of Arabic Ave had picked up in
Algeria and in Egypt Avould not at all pass current
Avith Hadji Mahmoud and his felloAvs, good honest
Syrians, quite unused to guessing the meaning of
Avords in an unknoAAui tongue ; for Ave Avere far
aAvay from the region of dragomans, JeAV pedlers,
and the nimhle-tongued donkey hoys, Avho haunt
the steps of tourists in those parts of the East Avhich
they have made their OAvm. Here all things Avcre
as purely Asiatic as if avc had been at Mcrv or
Ispahan. Hadji Mahmoud hoAVCAmr AAms good-
natured if not quick-Avitted ; and avo had the AV'hole
stock of our patience yet untouched and Avere ])rc-
pared to live as AV"e could till hotter times shoidd he.

* Beyldn, a corruption of tho ancient Pylco, or Gates of Syria.

Bedotlin Tribes of the EiLphrates. [on. u.

So we readily consented when he seemed anxious not
to lose time and begged us to go on and overtake the
mules, which, having had some minutes start of us,
were already beyond the crest of the pass. It was
blowing a hurricane there, and was bitterly cold.
The view overlooking the lake and marshes of the
Orontes far away towards Antioch was very beau-
tiful, and we could see where Antioch lay, its posi-
tion being marked by a pointed hill and the white
line of the river to our right.

We had now passed the highest ground and soon
began to descend towards the plain, which cannot
be many hundred feet above the sea level ; but the
fall of the hill is gentler here than on the western
side. Cloming down we met four or five hundred
men on the march from Aleppo, — soldiers on their
way to the war ; but very few were in uniform,
and at least thirty of them wore wooden handcuffs
shaped like stocks, and fastened in the same way.
These, it turned out, Avere deserters under arrest.
Fifteen hundred, we afterrvards learned, had left
Aleppo, but two-thirds had managed to desert on
the road by paying a mejidie each (four shillings^
to their major, and when recaptured, as some of
them Avere later, they had complained loudly of the
money not being restored. The soldiers Ave saAV
Avere a fine-looking set of men, in good condition,
but in depressed spirits ; leaving their homes, poor
creatures, for the doubtful glories of Avar. They
talked little either to each other or to us, and only

CH. II.]

Turkish Recruits.

a few stragglers inqnired how far it was on to
Beylan. I was very sorry for the poor fellows, as
theirs is a hard lot, — no pay, little food, and a
forlorn chance of ever returning. They must have
just heard too the news of the fall of Kars.

We had hardty passed the last soldier when we
came to a grove of olive trees. Here about three
weeks ago a muleteer was murdered by some Tur-
comans of Mount Amanus. He was accompanying
a rich merchant of Aleppo, who, being an invalid,
travelled in a litter. The Turcomans stopped his
caravan and demanded £4,000, the exact sum he
had in specie concealed in the litter, but the mer-
chant showed them only bills of exchange, which
he told them represented the money. These the
robbers would not take, and, turning upon the
muleteer, their accomplice, they called him a false
friend and shot him through the head. The mer-
chant arrived safely at Aleppo with both his gold
and his bills.

The sun was setting as we reached the grouj) of
mud hovels Avhere we were to pass the night, and
which go by the name of Diarbela-li Khan. I
confess that my spirits sank as I peeped into one
after another of these most uninviting dwellings ;
but our tents were in England, and the wind was
chilly, and there was nothing else to be done : so
we chose the biggest hovel, or the emptiest (for
there were ten or a dozen men in each), and made
ourselves as comfortable as we could with a barri-

1 6 Bedotdn Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. n.

cade of luggage round the space allotted us on the
platform where travellers sleep. The construction
of these khans is simple, — four mud walls and a
roof of thatch, with a post in the centre, to which
a lamp is hung ; for floor, the natural earth ; for
fire-place, a hole in the ground ; and for beds, the
raised platform I have spoken of, which is exactly
the same as that which hounds have to sleep on in
their kennels in England. The arrangement is not
so bad in practice, however, as it sounds. On the
platform you are more or less out of the reach of
things crawling and things hopping, and it is wide
enough for you to make your bed on it in its
breadth. Once there, you cannot he trodden on by
accident, or jostled by the people crowding round
the fire.

We were tired with our first day’s ride, and as
soon as Ave had spread our quilts, slept soundly for
an hour or more, in spite of the noise and of the
strangeness of our fellow lodgers, Avho after all,
peasants as they Avere, had better manners than to
interfere Avith us in any AA^ay, and Avdio, AA'hen Ave
Avoke up, let us have our share of the fire to warm
our bread at, as they had already let us have more
than our share of the platform. Only there seemed
no prospect of anything to eat beyond AA’hat we had
brought Avith us. EA^erybody munched his bread
as we did, apparently Avell satisfied AAuth that for
his cA^ening meal. A little coffee AA^as made and
handed round, and about midnight the chuckle of

cH. 11.] A Night in a Roadside Khan. 1 7

a, fowl announced that dinner Avas being thought of.
But we Avere then long past caring, and in the land
•of dreams again. A boy Avith the whooping-cough
on one side of me, and the loud snoring of a
muleteer Avere the last sounds I heard that night.
Then the khan and all in it Avere still, — all but the
<3ats, AAdiich proAvled about till morning, creeping
.stealthily round us and snuffing close to our faces.

At cockcroAV Hadji Mahmoud aroused the house,
declaring that it Avas time to be off, as Ave had a
nine hours’ ride before us, and long before you
could distinguish, as Mahomedans say, a Avhite
tlnead from a black one, everybody had croAvded
back to the tire to Avarm their hands, beds had been
rolled up, and boots put on.

We Avere the last to move ; and Avhen the
baggage, AAuth Hadji Mahmoud, had been des-
patched, and the other travellers gone, Ave had a
feAV quiet minutes to ourseHes at the tire, Avhere
the Ichanji brought us coffee and his bill. We
made him Amy happy with three beshliks (half-a-
croAAui), and so our night’s adventures ended.

It had rained since the day before, and the Avind
outside the hut Avas chilly. I had a headache ; and
Ave both felt tired and sorry for ourseh'es. But there
Avas no help for it noAV ; and aa'O mounted and rode
UAvay, folloAving the edge of the hills in a northerly
direction. Our road had noAv descended almost to
the plain ; and presently a great marsh appear(‘d to
our right, its presence announced by SAvarms of

VOI.. I.

Bedotdn Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. u.

>vaterfoAvl, "svliich rose as we came near it — snipeS'
and plovers and herons, and now and then a flight
of dncks. I noticed several pochards and teal, jnst
as on our ponds at home ; and especially some very
handsome red and white dncks, Avhich must have^
been sheldrakes. This marsh is crossed by an ancient
causeway, probably of Eoman construction ; and
along it we passed, turning sharply to the right,,
and eventually coming to a high bridge over the
river Orontes. Here Wilfrid dismounted, anxious-
not to lose so good an opportunity of securing ns
against another dinnerless evening, and was lucky
enough to stop a couple of shovellers as they were'
flying up the river. They fell, too, most fortu-
nately, exactly on the bridge we were crossing, or’
we could not have picked them up. Then Kasim
begged for some coots Avhich ivere dabbling about
close by, and a family double shot brought four to
the bag. Encouraged by this, we tried a chive, hut
it Avas unsuccessful ; and, the weather seeming to
tlueaten serious mischief, Ave had to be content Avith
AvEat we had got, and make the best of our Avay to-
get in before the rain. We must liaAm passed nearly
a thousand camels in the course of the day, some
chiven by Bedouins (probably Agheyl), some by
toAATispeople, and most of them, I fancy, carrying
corn for the GoA^ernment. Some Avere certainly so
employed, for one large caraAmn AA^as headed by
an immense camel bearing the Turkish flag and
escorted by soldiers. These Avere, I think, the finest

CII. II.]

sport on the Orontes.

camels I ever saAV, and in splendid condition. Wo
got to Afn'n just in time, for tlie rain Avas begin-
ning to fall, and before nigbt it came doAvn in
torrents. We Avere lucky besides in being able
to cross the ford there that eA^ening, for sometimes
caraAmns are delayed for days by the flooding of
the small muddy iWer, a branch of the Orontes,
over Avliich there is no bridge or ferry, and
camels are stopped after rain altogether by the
marshes.

The khan at Afrin Avas Avhat they call in Arabic
the “brother” of the last, but much more croAvded,
Amongst others round the Are Avere some soldiers,
Avho looked at our map and asked us about the AA^ar.
They seemed intelligent, but Avith the vaguest ideas
of geography, and they asked particularly about the
fall of Kars. We told them the neAvs Avas true, but
that Osman Avas doing Avell at Plevna. The little-
old Iclianji came up to us during this discourse, and
begged us, in French, not to say that things Avere-
less than right Avith the army in Armenia, as the
soldiers Avould be angry. “ I am a Christian,” he
said, “ and am glad the Turks are beaten, but they
don’t like it.” I made him cook the ducks for our
supper, and fry us some onions. The soldiers sat
talking politics all the evening, and almost came tO'
bloAvs ; but roAvdiness in these countries has not the
assistance of drinlc, and seldom leads to harm. Kot
but AA'hat I suspect Hadji Mahmoud of a taste for
arrack, or he Avould not have such a glittering eye.

Bedouin Tribes of the Eu-phrates. [ch. h.

or be subject to such sudden fits of cheerfulness
without apparent reason. I hope I do him
wrong.

We started on our third day’s journey, fortified,
in all the coats and cloaks Ave possessed, against
the rain, which was falling heavily, and a bitter
wind, which was blowing from the north. Our
road was one of the most cheerless that can be
imagined; a track of rusty mud, winding over a
wilderness of low, stony hills, on the crests of
which the wind cut keenly as a knife, changing
the rain to sleet. In the holloAvs there was an
occasional lull as we laboured, up to our horses’
hocks, across what had once been fields, the little
beasts going gamely on, in spite of eA’^ery hideous
combination of rock and mud which could bring a
creature to its knees. Walking Avas impossible,
though Wilfrid tried it more than once ; for the
rocks were as slippery as glass, and it Avas all he
could do to keep his footing. My feet Avere aching
with the cold in a more excruciating way than I
ever remember to haA^e felt, and my fingers were
numbed to insensibility, though I kept them Avell
in my pockets. We sat like patient bundles on
our horses, letting them choose their OAvn road and
go their OAvn pace, Avith the reins upon their necks,
in trust of Providence and of that excellent good
sense it had endowed them Avith. I think a fall
any time that day would liaA^e been the end of us,
and that neither horse nor rider Avould haA^e risen

CH. II.] A Retreat from Moscow” 21

out of the slough again. Once we passed a dead
horse with its owner, an old man, standing over it,
the picture of despair — ^hut it was the retreat from
Moscow, and each had to shift for himself. There
was no stopping. The camel caravans had already
given it up as a had job, and we occasionally passed
a hundi’ed or so of these boasts, grazing in sheltered
places, while their masters waited snngly enough
under their hits of black tenting, and with the
loads piled round them to make a barrier against
the wind. It Avas a Avretched ride, and Ave did not
stop for an instant all day long ; nor Avere Ave able
to deriA’e the smallest satisfaction from the thought
that Ave Avere crossing the battlefield on which
Zenobia was defeated by Aurelian, and that the
ruined toAAOis, Avhich stood every here and there upon
a crest of hill, had been destroyed by Joab in the
reign of King DaAud. The AV'hole country seemed
to have been populous once ; and there Avere thou-
sands of acres of excellent land lying nnploughed
there for centuries. Noav all Avas deserted. Once
or tAvice Ave passed a Aullage, and it Avas evident
that the little plain on Avhich it stood had been
under cultivation lately ; but this year, OAving no
doubt to the Avar and the consequent loss of labour,
not a tAventieth part had been furroAA'cd. The
thistles had it all their OAvn Avay.

The tenure of land in Turkey is peculiar. The
soil belongs to the Sultan, Avho receives rent in the
form of a land tax, ten per cent, on the gross pro-

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. h.

cluce, from any one wlio chooses to plough it. The
act of doing so gives a right of occupation to the
farmer, which only lapses if he allows the land to lie
fallow during tlu'ee years. Should he do this, his
neighbours may scramble for possession; but, in
•ordinary circumstances, the tenancy is perpetual.
These tenures are bought and sold, just as though
they were freehold, or as Ave buy and sell lease-
holds in London. But I fancy there is very little
•competition, and that most land in the proA’ince of
Aleppo has no marketable A'alue AvhateA’er. A
Syrian Ave met at Aleppo informed us that the best
building ground in the city AA^as to be bought for
fifteen piastres the pik, or Is. Sc/, the foot; and
that, just outside the toAvn, it might be had for
one piastre ; in the country, for nothing at all.
We hear too that scA^eral Europeans liaA'c tried the
experiment of occupying waste land, but none
with success. The GoA^ernment discourages all
such schemes. Yet there must be millions of
acres of good land in Syria, well Avatered and in
a healthy climate, only AAraiting to be used.

In gloomy speculations on the miseries of mankind,
and the particular misery of haA’ing frozen feet, and
hands Avhich were long past feeling pain, our day
passed by. At last the little toAvn of Tokat came
in sight ; and AA'e AA^ere floundering on its paA^ement
in the delightful certainty of shelter, if not of food.
Mahmoud had friends at Tokat, and took us, not
to the khan, but to their house. It was a square

«H. II.] Family Life in a Kttrdish Village. 23

Ijuildiug of hewn stone, and apparently of great
.antiquity, an exact cube of fifteen feet, without
window or opening of any sort hut the door, which
was tAvo steps doAAm from the level of the street.
The inside AA-as Amulted with perfect regularity, and
had been freshly AvhiteAvashed to an appearance of
neatness and comfort we did not at all expect.
There was no fiooring but the rock ; but tliis Avas
perfectly level, and there Avere nice clean mats
spread OA^er half of it. Four huge sepulchral
chests, containing corn, occupied the corners ; and
,a sarcophagus, as linen cupboard, stood in an
.arched recess opposite the door. On one side Avas
a fire-place, on the other a thing looking like a
dove-cote, aj)parently of eartheiware, and designed,
as pigeon-holes are in public offices, for holding
rubbish. The AAdiole place, cupboards, pigeon-
holes, sarcophagus and all, Avas beautifully AA'hite, and
looking as if cut out of one piece. Indeed it AA'as
.an extremely pretty room, off the fioor of AAdiich
jmu might, as they say, have eaten your dinner ;
and that is Avhat avc Avcrc soon doing. A tidy
Avoman AAuth a little hoy receiA'cd us, and AA^elcomed
Mahmoud Avith a torrent of amiable inquiries. She
brought a brasicr Avith a liA'O ember in it, and lit a
fire of sAvcct-smelling tAvigs, at AAdiich aa'c thaAved
our hands, and helped us to take off our Avet things
and lay out our beds upon the fioor. But, alas,
there Avas no coffee, nor anything to eat but half
a dozen eggs, Avith our broad and the remains of a

Bedotlin Tribes of the Eriphrates. [ch. n.

fowl from Afrfn. But, all the same, it was a
delightful meal, and there was a jar of water in a
corner with a tin cup Avhere we could drink.

Our hostess was a good honest body as one would
wish to meet, Avho spent her time spinning cotton
with an old-fashioned wheel and rocking the child’s
cradle with her foot, like any English labourer’s
wife of fifty years ago. On little Akhmet, or as his
mother called him Akhmet Beg, she spent a deal of
affection, and everybody who came into the house
was called upon to do his share of nursing and
amusing. Mahmoud was made comfortable with a
dish of eggs and a pile of quilts on the fioor, and
we in oiu’ corner did our best to get warm. But it
was terribly cold, in spite of the brasier, and Ave
were chilled to the bones. We tried to conA'erse
Avith Adduba, as the Avonian AA'as called ; bnt her
Arabic and onrs did not agree, and we could not
get far. Indeed Ave found our feAV Avords of the
Egyptian dialect quite unintelligible, and Ave had to
begin everything afresh. The accent and eA^en the
words Avere all changed from those of Cairo. This
was very A^exatious. Adduba Avent on spinning
Avhile there AV'as light to see ; the spinning-AA'heel
Avas like a drum, and to the droning sound of it I
went to sleep at dusk. I Avoke up again just before
the lamp Avms put out, and saAV that the husband,
Halil, and his wife had rolled themseHes up in a
heap by Akhmet’s cradle on the fire-place side of the
room. Hadji Mahmoud lay comfortably snoring^

CH. II.]

We reach Aleppo.

a shapeless lumj) of quilts, on the arch or sarco-
j)hagus side. We had possession of the space com-
manded by the row of pigeon-holes, really the best
jjart of the room ; but we could not sleep for the
cold, and remained shivering. Outside, the rain
pattered and the wind blew all night.

I hurry over the remainder of our road, as in fact
we did the next day, chasing the minarets of Aleppo,
which we had caught sight of five hours before
reaching the city. It was still rahiing heavily
as, at the turn of a hill, we suddenly came upon
Aleppo with its border of trees and gardens, and its
fortress, towers and minarets, making one of the
most agreeable sights in the world. We did not
stop to admire, but, with a crowd of other travellers
and mules and horses and asses, hurried into the
city, and were soon at the lokanda door and at the
end of our troubles. Well, — as Bewick says, “ Grood
times and bad times and all times get over.”

CHAPTEE III.

“ Set you down this,

* ^ * that in Aleppo once

* * * * * * j*

ShJlKESPEAEE.

We are entertained by a wise man — Tales of my landlord — How
Jedaan laughed at the Pasha’s beard, and made his friend
Ahmet happy — The Anazeh and their migrations — We are
inspired with the idea of visiting the Bedouins — Seyd Ahmet
and the Jews — A sturdy beggar.

I SHALL always consider it a fortunate circum-
stance, little as we thought it to be so at the time,
that the severe storms, for which the winter of
1877-78 will long be remembered in Syria, held us
for a whole month weather-hound at Aleppo. Eot
that the town itself particularly interested us,
though it is an excellent specimen of a purely
Oriental city, but because the delay gave us time
to look about us, and to get some idea of the
country Ave Avere going to, and of the manners
and customs of its inhabitants, all of which infor-
mation Avas, later on, of the greatest possible service
to us.

We had hardly been more than a feAV hoiu's at
■our lokanda, a poor cooped-up place Avith a court-
yard like a well, before Mr. S., the British Consul,

<CH. III.]

Hospitable Entertainment.

to whom we had letters, called, in company with his
nmiahle Avife, and hospitably compelled ns to ex-
change our dismal lodgings for his OAvn comfortable
house. The Consulate, though partly ruined by an
■earthquake fiA^e years ago, is an attractiA^e building,
set on solid stone arches across a riA’er. There is a
pDleasant sound of Ayater underneath the rooms, and
.a pleasant look-ont OA^er market gardens from the
AA'indoAA^s, just the sort of place Orientals choose,
AA'ho haA'e more love of trees and running Avater
than fear of damp. The house AA'as a coiwent once,
nnd still has a cloistral look. There is a grotto in
the garden where the nuns used to be buried, Avith
graA'es cut in the rock containing bones. I found
part of a skidl there and some ribs, lying in one of
them nncoA'ered, — but these things are common in
the East. Close by, like a fortress of lieAvn stone,
jstands a mill ; and there are a feAv AvilloAVS and
znulberry trees Avhich, Avitli the water, attract
croAvds of holiday makers on Friday afternoons,
snaking the rh^er bank a country imitation of the
SAveet Waters at Stamboul.

Here Ave found, besides the bodily comforts of
food and shelter, ample entertainment for our
minds, hungry for knoAvledge of the lands Avhich
lay before us. Our host, a man of sixty, with
nearly thirty years’ experience of Eastern life, Avas
in truth an authority on all matters connect('d Avith
Turkey, and, Avhat interested us far more, the Desert
and its strange inhabitants. Ilcre, for the first time

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. m.

we learned the truth about the Euphrates valley,
and Mesopotamia, and the caravan roads practicable
and impracticable for travellers, Mr. S. had been
himself, in his younger days, a hold and enthusiastic
explorer of the desert. He had made friends with
the Eedouins, and passed among the tribes almost
as one of themselves. In him we found at last an
intelligent sympathiser with our love of adventure,
which the rest of om’ world had been at such pains
to discoiu’age ; and we owe it to him that our vague
scheme, of spending the winter in the neighbour-
hood of JIagdad, took definite shape, and resolved
itself into the plan of which this hook is the result.

It was, as may he imagined, a delightful surprise
to us to find thus, at the very threshold of the East,
so excellent an expounder of the Asian mystery ;
and, when the north wind blew day after day more
furiously, and the rain changed to snow, and reports
reached us of caravans brought to a standstill in the
mud or snowed up in the mountains, we were easily
persuaded to stay on, listening to the “tales of our
landlord,” and always with increasing interest.
These turned, as I have said, principally on Bedouin
life and manners, things at which we had hitherto
looked with the half contemptuous ignorance with
which the European world regards them, but which
we now found set before us under a new and
fascinating light.

The Euphrates valley, Ave discovered, was neither
an absolutely impracticable route nor a mere every-

CH. III.]

The Euphrates Explained.

day excursion, to be undertaken witli a light heart
and a handful of Cook’s coupons. No line of
steamers ran as yet on the river, though one had
been projected and a Government boat had occa-
sionally made the voyage and even taken passengers
on board. There was, however, a caravan road,
more or less protected by a series of small forts and
patrols of soldiers, which in winter time was used
by the more adventurous merchants of Bagdad and
Aleppo for the purposes of trade. Down this we
should in ordinary times run no serious risk in
travelling; and, even now, though the war had
stripped the forts of their garrisons, our host was
of opinion that we might safely venture. The only
risk to which we should be exposed, would be that
of encountering roving parties of Bedouins ; and
these Mr. S. represented to us in a less alarming
light than they are generally shown.

The politics of the deserts bordering the Euphrates
he explained to us thus: — The left bank of the
river had from time immemorial been inhabited by
the Shammar, a numerous and powerful clan of pure
Bedouins, who exacted tribute from the tribes of
Mesopotamia, while the right bank was tyrannised
in like manner by the Anazeh, a still more numerous
and more powerfnl clan, which held the whole of
what is called the Syrian desert, from Aleppo in the
north to Nejd in the far south. These two great
tribes were constantly at war, and marauding
parties from either side occasionally crossed the

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. m.

river to plunder and ravage the enemy’s territory.
Travellers, who should come across such a party,,
would run a certain risk of being plundered, though
there was no fear of their suffering personal violence.
The valley itself was inhabited by a number of
peaceable shepherd tribes, tributary to the fighting
tribes ; and from these there was nothing to fear.
About twenty years ago, moreover, the caravan
road had been occupied by the Turks ; and these
small tribes were now to a certain extent under
Government protection. Of the Shammar, and the
country east of the river, our host knew nothing,
bnt with the Anazeh he was on terms of familiarity,,
and, from the fact of his having often rendered them
little services with the Government, had claims
npon their good will. To them he promised to give
us such introductions as should secure us from
harm.

The Consul was an excellent narrator ; and some
of his stories seemed as though fresh from his
countryman Walter Scott. Among others we were
struck by those relating to a certain Jedaan, one of
the Anazeh Sheykhs, who at the present moment
figured as the Eob Eoy of the Desert. This Jedaan,
it appeared, was to a certain extent a soldier of
fortune, — that is to say, he did not belong to any of
the “ noble ” families of the Anazeh, but had worked
his wmy up from a rather obscure position, by his
military skill and courage alone, to the rank of
snpreme leader of the most powerful section of the

CH. III.]

Tales of my Landlord.

Anazeli. A few tales of this hero may not be out
of place here, and will serve as an introduction to-
him and his fellows, Avhen they come in their turn
in person on our stage. The occasion on which
the Consul made his acquaintance with J edaan was
as follows : — In 1857, when Asmeh Pasha was
military commander of Aleppo, being a man of
some energy of character and desirous of distinc-
tion, he made an expedition against the Pedaan
tribe of Anazeh, of which Jedaan is Sheykh. Its
head-quarters at that time were on the plain of
Melakh, by the Euphrates. Mr. S. was asked
to join the expedition, as the Pasha Avished to-
have a European for witness of his skill. Asmeh
himself commanded the party, Avhich consisted of
two battalions of rifles, tivo squadrons of cavalry,
and four guns. They had about sixty miles to
march, and bivouacked the first night on the hill
above Jabul. There Avas no moon, and the sky
Avas cloudy, and in the morning it Avas discoA^ered
that the mules, which Avere used for the artillery,
had disappeared. Cavalry horses Avere hoAvevcr
impressed into the service of the guns, and a
second march brought the Turks to AAuthin ton
miles of the plain, Avhere they expected to meet
their enemies. But again, and in spite of extra
Avatching, a panic occurred among the animals at
night, and many Avero missing next day. Asmeh
Pasha AA'as exceedingly angry at this, but contimicd
his march undaunted, arriving early at the edge

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. m.

of the cliffs Avhieli overhang the valley of the
Euphrates. In the plain below a camp was visible,
with a tremendous stir going on in it. It was the
Anazeh hurriedly crossing the river. They had
fancied that the troops would have gone hack, after
losing their horses, and were now retreating with
all speed. Only a herd of some five thousand
camels remained undefended. These the Pasha
determined on securing.

The army was accordingly marched doAvn to a
jDoint on the plain where a little tell., or mound,
offered a strategical position on which to place the
guns ; and a party of cavalry was sent to intercept
the camels from a possible retreat in the direction
of the Euphrates. The manoeuvre was well executed
and the camels surrounded ; but, while all attention
was being directed towards these animals, a party of
eight horsemen appeared swimming the river, which
was then low ; and, before the lieutenant in command
was aware of his danger, the leader of these had
galloped up and run him through with a lance.
The soldiers, scattered and taken by surprise, gave
way ; and the whole party, soldiers and Bedouins,
came straight towards the mound, w'here the
main body of infantry and the guns were posted.
The Pasha ordered the artillerymen to fire, and
liimself pointed one of the guns, hut the result of
the discharge was only that one of his own men
was brought to the ground. The noise, moreover,
of the guns occasioned a stampede among the

CH. 111.1

Rob Roy comes to Town.

camels, who went ofl in a body, trampling down all
that were between them and the river, Avhile the
Bedouins, calling out as they do liad-6-liad-6^'‘ led
the way and succeeded in taking the whole herd
across. The leader of this successful rescue was
Jedaan, whose brilliant exploit ended the expedi-
tion. Asmeh Pasha returned to Aleppo Avithont
other trophy of his valour than the loss of tAvo men.

This incident gave Mr. S. a great curiosity to
see more of the hero of the adA’enture, and circum-
stances favoured his Avish. !Not many Aveeks later
he received a message from Jedaan, begging him to
intercede with the Pasha, as he Avas desirous of
peace and of the privilege of trading Avith the
toAATi ; — at least, he ui-ged, the Consul might give
him a safe conduct, Avhen he came to make terms
at Aleppo. Such an appeal to a foreign Consul is
not an unusual proceeding Avith the Bedouins, who
are always alternating betAveen the pleasures of Avar
and the advantages of peace, and Avho are afraid
of negotiating straight Avith the Turks, on account
■of their notorious ill faith. Mr. S., hoAVCVcr,
though Avishing to see Jedaan, could not guarantee
his safety in Aleppo, and declined to gAe him
the safe conduct. But either the letter aaus mis-
interpreted, or Jedaan Avould not be refused; so
one morning Avithout further announcement the
Sheykh appeared at the Consulate. He Avas asked
what broxight him there. ‘‘ Your letter,” Avas the
ansAver, and I claim your protection.” The case

VOL. I.

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. m..

required some consideration, but in the end it wa»
decided that though he could not remain under
British protection, protection to retmm should he
granted him. The Consul bade Jedaan be off, if
he valued his life, but, orderiag his own horses to
be saddled, mounted with him and, escorted by
the Consular cavasses, rode with him tlu’ough the
toum. In such company Jedaan was safe from the
police, and once outside was too well mounted to
be in any danger. At a mile from the gate they
parted. But Jedaan, with a feeling of gratitude
not common among the Bedouins, or in the ex-
pectation, if you will, of future favours, did not
forget the benefit, and has remained the Consul’s
faithful friend through life.

Mr. S. returned the Sheykh’s visit soon after-
wards, when the usual bribe had secured to the
latter a deed of amnesty; and the first thing
Jedaan took him to see in the Fedaan camp wms
a troop of artillery horses in their equipments, his
trophy from the war.

Jeddan since then has been sometimes outlaAved,
sometimes amnestied by the Government, but he has
never put his neck again in jeopardy by entering a
town. He is now the leading warrior of the Sebaa,
who have accepted him as their military chief, and
he has the reputation of being the longest headed of
all the Anazeh Sheyhks.

On another occasion, tired of war and listening
to the intrigues which the Government is always at

CH. III.]

Adventures of Akhmet Beg.

pains to work among the tribes, the Fechian agreed
to acknowledge another Sheykh in Jedaan’s place, a
consin of his own and recommended by the Pasha.
Jedaan found himself deserted by his followers, but
would not accept the deposition they had voted.
He rode alone into his rival’s camp, met him at his
tent door, and killed him in the presence of all his
men. Hobody after this disputed his right to be
leader.

At the time when we first heard of him, he was
carrying on Avar with the Eoala, the most powerful
tribe of the Anazeh, and every day brought in ncAVS
of his valiant deeds. Of these I Avill give an account
later, when I come to speak of the desert feuds and
politics in Avhich Ave came to be mixed up; but
I have mentioned these incidents as an explanation
of the interest Avhich this pictxiresque outlaAV inspired
in us. What Avonder that it AAms soon our principal
desire to make his acquaintance ?

Another of the desert heroes Avas Akhmet Peg.
He Avas Sheykh of the Moali, a tribe founded
according to tradition in the eighth century, by
Theodoi'a, Avife of the Emperor Justinian the
Second, in honour of a son of one of the Ommiade
Caliphs of Damascus, to AA’hom she Avas attached.*

* Justinian the Second fled to the horde of the Chozars, who-
pitched their tents between the Tanais and Borysthenes. The
Khan entertained with pity and respect the royal suppliant ; Pha-
iiagoria, once an ojiulent cit}^ on the Asiatic side of the lake
Miootis, was assigned for his residence, and every Poman preju-
dice was stifled in his marriage with the sister of the barbarian^

36 Bedoilin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. nr.

The tribe originally consisted of slaves, bought by
her, and from this circumstance is known as the
Modli, or “ property ” tribe, and as such are held
in but moderate estimation by the pure Arabs.
But their Sheykhs, being descended from the
Caliphs, hold a great position, and are always given
the title of Beg, unknown, except in this instance,
in the desert. Akhmet was a man of herculean
strength and, standing over six feet high, was
considered a giant by his fellows. He was hand-
some and brave, and we have often since heard him
spoken of as the “ properest man ” ever seen among
the Bedouins. “Ah,” they say, “ you should have
seen Akhmet Modli ” (for the name of the tribe is
often added to that of the individual). He had
a passion for “great horses,” or rather for great
mares to suit his size and weight. The appearance
of him alone would put thirty men to flight. The
shaft of his spear too was sixteen feet long, “ like a
weaver’s beam.” He was covered with the scars of
old wounds, and had sworn not to “ die in bed like
a gentleman of Aleppo.” He was moreover an
honest and an honourable man, unlike J edaan, who
was always a “ wild felloAV.” On one occasion he
had rescued Mr. S. and his son from a band of
Shammar by whom they were siu’ronnded. The
.sudden charge of Akhmet on his great white mare,

viho seems, however, from the name of Theodora, to have received
the sacrament of baptism.” Gibbon, “ Decline and Fall of the
Homan Empire.”

CH. III.]

Akhmet Falls zn Love.

had put them all to flight, and he had even pnrsncd
the party and recovered the Consul’s horse, which
they were carrying off. In this aflair he had
dropped his lance, and nsed only a dahus or mace
studded with nails, and had brought this do^vn on
the head of the man he was pursuing and killed
him on the spot.

This honest giant was once in love; and his
conduct of his aflair of the heart, with its nn-
romantic ending, is a good trait of desert manners.
There had been an old alliance between Akhmet and
Jedaan, and they had taken the oath of brother-
hood, which binds the swearers to give mutual
aid and protection in time of war; so the IVIoali
and the Fedaan had for some years fought side
by side. But it happened that, in one of Jedaan’s
numerous quarrels, he was left to flght it out
alone, although he had sent word of his difficulty to
Akhmet. As soon then as the fighting was over,
he dispatched a messenger to ask explanations of
his brother, and the answer he received Avas as
follows : “ Akhmet refuses to fight for the husband
of a woman he loves.” This was the first ncAvs
Jedaan had of his brother’s displeasure on account
of his marriage Avith a Moali girl tAvo years before,
and by Avhom he already had a son. Jedaau’s
conduct on the occasion AAms characteristic. “■’This
is too small a matter,” he said, “to stand betAveen
friends. Take her. She is yours,” and ho sent tlie
Avoman to the Moali Sheykh’s tent. She is still

38 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. m.

living, I hear, with, the Moali, and has children by
both husbands.

Akhmet Beg got his wish of not dying in a bed
only two years ago. He was run through the body
in a ni^ltie with the Shanimar, and died without a
word. His place is noAV held by his cousin Mah-
moud, who has spent some years at Constantinople,
and is supported by the Turkish Government.
Mahmoud Beg is, however, unpopular with the
tribe, who are said to be only waiting to depose
him till Akhmet Beg’s son, now fourteen years of
age, shall be old enough to take his legitimate
position as Sheykh.

With such tales as these our December evenings
passed pleasantly enough ; and the original plan of
a mere journey down the river to Bagdad expanded
into the Avider scheme of a systematic progress
through the Bedouin tribes. A page from my
journal will show how the idea first took a definite
shape : —

“ December 15th. — ^Wilfrid was talking to-day
Avith Mr. S. about the Anazeh, and their annual
migration towards the Nejd; and a discussion
arose as to the limit of their wanderings south-
Avards, Mr. S. asserting his belief that these
occasionally extended even to Jebel Shammar and
the Hejd. Ho European, hoAvever, he admitted,
had ever accompanied the Anazeh on their journeys,
and he himself had visited them only in their
summer quarters, the upper desert of Syria. It

•CH. III.] We Propose to Visit the Anazeh. 39

would be very interesting to solve this problem ;
and Wilfrid, without thinking that the answer
would be an encouraging one, asked whether it
would be possible for a European to tack himself
■on to the tribe, and so make the journey with
them. Mr. S. to his surprise answered that it
certainly could be done, and why should not we
do it ? According to him it would not even be a
dangerons experiment ; and only tact and patience
would be required, in enduring the tedium of
Bedouin life during several months, and the
courage to be all that time beyond the reach of
Clnistian help. Wilfrid is now full of the idea.
Eor me I am only afraid of being away from
England longer than Ave intended ; and we shoxdd
get no letters all the time. Otherwise the plan
seems agreeable enough. The actual travelling
Avould not be tiring, as the Bedouins when on the
march go quite sloAvly ; ten or tAvelve miles a day ;
and Ave should haA'c an opportunity of seeing, AAdiat
has always interested me, the original home of
oiu’ English horses.”

It Avas settled then that Ave should start, as soon
as preparations could be made for so serious an
expedition, and join the Anazeh A\Eercver they
might be. They had already departed from the
neighboui’hood of Aleppo and Avere sxqij)oscd to be
somcAA'hcre to the south-east, betAA'cen Palmyra and
the Euphrates, and Mr. S., as a first stop, sent at
•once for a certain Seyd Akhmet, the Sheykh of a

Bedotnn Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. m.

small tribe living on the borders of the desert, tO'
get more certain information of the strength of the
Anazeh and their proceedings.

The next thing, and this was my especial
business, was to have a tent made, for the only
tents procurable at Aleppo are the round Turkish
ones, which are quite unsuited for an expedition-
in light marching order, such as we intended tO'
make. A Turkish tent is a very cumbrous ahair,
requiring half a dozen people to pitch it and a
camel to carry it. It is besides easily blown down
and is miserably draughty in cold weather. So-
we agreed it would be better to have a tent made
on our own plan, a plan which had stood the test
of more than one campaign, and always satisfactorily..
It is low, but covers for its size a great deal o£
ground and can in wet or windy weather be made-
almost air-tight, while under a hot sun it is trans-
formable into a gigantic umbrella. But I will not'
deseribe it further, although, as it was in great
measure the work of my own hands, I took some-
pride in it when it was finished, with its red lining;
bound with white braid. The actual sewing was
done by three Jews, who came every day to the
Consulate and stitched from dawn till dusk at the
rate of half-a-crown each, sitting cross-legged on
the fioor in an outer room ; very honest workers
and careful of every shred of stuff given them.
As I Avas standing by them, gBung directions one
morning and shoAving them how to turn the edge

CH. III.]

A “ Sturdy Beggar d

of the outer seams, so as to keep the roof water-
proof, a strange figure suddenly strode into the
room with a loud “Wallah,” which made the
Hebrews start. This was Seyd Akhmet the
Sheykh of the Hannddy, and, as he was the first
Bedouin we saw, I will transcribe my impressions,
of him as I wrote them : —

“ Seyd Akhmet is a rough-looking ugly man
of fifty-five or sixty, without other distinction than
what his Bedouin cloak gives him, and his good-
natured countenance, considerably tempered with
craft. He is just what they used to call in England,
in the days of lonely farm-houses and unfrequented
roads, a “ sturdy beggar,” — a mixtui’e of good
humour, efirontery, and servility, neutralising each
other perpetually, and preventing you from either
wholly respecting or wholly despising him. You
are forced to laugh. I confess I am not displeased
with his face. I am delighted to find, too, that I
can understand his Arabic a little better than that
of the servants here. This is, I suppose, because he
comes originally from Egypt. He pronounces tho
g’s or j’s hard. The Bedouins, too, speak more
distinctly than the townspeople, who clip their
words and IcaA'c out their k’s, just as Londoners
do their h’s. Seyd Akhmet’s words come rolling
out one by one, and we have time to recognize at
least some of them.

“ He informed us that the Anazch left the neigh-
bourhood of Aleppo some weeks ago, and are at the

Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. m.

present moment congregated at the foot of the
Bishari hills some twenty miles north-west of
Deyr, a village on the Euphrates ; hut, as he ex-
pressed it, they all have their heads now turned
towards the south, and may he expected to start in
a few days for the Hamdd or Great Desert. There
they will linger perhaps for another few weeks,
and then move altogether southwards. We asked
him about Jehel Shammar and the ISTejd, hut he
does not seem to know much about this. His
own tribe never moves far away from Aleppo.
After telling us all he knew, he began to grow
plaintive, asking in a begging voice whether Ave
AA^ere going to gwe him ‘nothing to eat’ (a Bedouin
paraplu’ase for money). He had been sent for, he
said, from a long AA^ay off and Avas hungry. He
even performed the little pantomime of pulling an
empty purse out of a corner of his shirt sleeve,
to shoAV that he Avas penniless. It must have been
put there on purpose. He AA^as very funny AAdth
Mrs. S., aaEoiu he pretended to be much afraid of,
fearing her evil influence AAuth her husband ; and
creeping up, Avhen she was looking another AA^ay,
he suddenly tied a knot in her shaAAd, ,This, it
seems, is a form of appeal among the Bedouins
AAdien they Avould seek protection, and signifies that
the snpplicator appears as the ‘ individual ’ of the
person he Avould propitiate, ‘ sa chose,’ as one
Avould say in French. All this Avas not very
dignified, but there AA^as a good-humoured tAA'inkle

CH. III.] Seyd Akhmet asks for Money.

in tlie Avortliy man’s eye wliicli half redeemed liis
action from servility, and he took the matter -with
the hest possible temper when Mrs. S. sent him
about his business.”

I have given this description as that of the first
IBedonin we saw, and, though poor Seyd Akhmet
was not a very distinguished specimen of his race,
it will give an idea of the common Bedouin way.
The Hannady it must he remembered are not a
noble ” tribe, being in fact of Egyptian origin,
and they have been contaminated by their long
connection 'with the toAVUspeople of Aleppo. No
Anazeh Sheykh would condescend to such manners.
But as 3^et we knew nothing of this.

Thus started, the idea of visiting the Anazeh
rapidly grew into a settled plan, Mr. S. promising
to see us, at least some part of the road, on our way.

CHAPTER IV.

“ En la Ciudad de Xere?

Se crio un zapatero,

Llamado Curro Lopez.

De nada tuvo miedo.”

Aitdalusian Ballad.

The Castle of Aleppo — Inscription relating to King David—
Legend of St. Zacharias and the Muedin — The prisons of
Aleppo — Strange justice — Curro the Kurd — We give half-a-
crown to a murderer, and offend public feeling.

All this while I have said nothing about the
toAvn of Aleppo, wliieh was to have been the
subject of last chapter, but the fact is both Wilfrid
and I are extremely poor sight-seers and care for
anything better than looking at mosques and monu-
ments, and it was with difficulty that at the end of
a fortnight we summoned up courage to pay a
visit to the citadel. It would certainly have been
foolish to omit doing so, for the fortress of Aleppo-
is probably unique in the world as a purely artificial
place of strength. It consists of a circular mound
half a mile across at top and some three hundred
feet high, cased with smooth stone after the fashion
of the pyramids. Around it runs a broad ditch,
about sixty feet deep and cut in the rock, to which
time has given all the appearance of a natural
ravine. The summit is crowned with massive

CITADEL OF ALEPPO.

. ♦ •

« ^ • 0-

■'Si;

-■.4-

.;:W^

• _ ;v,

I'UBlWRy

OF THE .a

yf^fllVERStTY OF ILUNOlS

■7?/^

CH. IV.]

The Fortress of Aleppo.

walls of red sandstone, and is readied by an
imposing gate and covered Avay containing a stair-
case, There is one clear tmbroken face of masonry
two hundred feet sheer, and an arch spans the
moat at little less than that height. Who first
made the mound nobody knows, but the existing
walls of the fortress were built by Khosroes, king
of the Persians, in the sixth century. Saladin
took it June 12, 1188, and Malek-ed-Daher, his
son, possessed it after his father’s death in IISO.*
A rampant lion, Khosroes’ device, may still be
seen on the walls. The whole is much rent and
dismantled by the earthquakes, which have visited
Aleppo at intervals of about fifty years ever since
the time of Justmian. Kothing less conld have
touched such masonry. It is strange that in these
days, when everytliing is known, so grand a monn-
nient should have so little notoriety ; bnt Aleppo
lies out of the track of the Syrian tourists, and to
more serious sight-seers, fresh from Babylon and
Kineveh, an antiquity dating from the sixth
centuiy seems but a Cockney affair. There Avas,
however, formerly an inscription in IlebrcAAq point-
ing to a much older date. It Avas on a AA’all,
close to the gate of the castle, and Avas throAA’ii
doAATi and buried by the earthquake of 1822. It
ran as folloAA's : — “ Joab son of Zeruiah, in the
days of David the king, took this castle from

* See Abulfeda and Kamel Alto vary kb in ‘‘ Kccucil des Ilisto-
riens des Croisades.”

46 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. iv.

Hadaclezer king of Zober, whom he smote in the
Valley of Salt.” I have this on the anthority of
the chief Eabbi of Aleppo, who remembers it. It
may yet be re-discovered among the rubbish,
which chokes up the building, and seems worth
recording.

Besides the fortress, there is little of interest in
Aleppo, though the toAvn is handsomer than most
oriental cities, being built throughout of stone.
There is one great square tower, however — the
belfry of St. Zacharias — to which a curious story is.
attached, not yet, as far as I know, noticed by
travellers. It appears that, after Alejopo was cap-
tured by Elialed, the general of Omar, the Christian
churches were, according to custom, converted into
mosques, and a muedin Avas sent to each tower to
gh^e out the daily calls to prayer. But it so
happened that the muedin Avho first ascended the
toAver of St. Zacharias fell from the top and Av^as
killed. A second met AAdth the same fate, and,
Avhen a third was chosen, he, being an old man
and frightened at the end of his tAVO predecessors,
stopped beloAV in the church to pray instead of
going up the stair, and Avhile thus engaged Avas.
addressed by an aged man Avho told him not to
fear ; that he, the speaker, Avas Zacharias, and that
he Avould spare him from the punishment of his
sacrilege on one condition. This AA^as that at mid-
night he should ghm an extra call, repeating part of
the Greek liturgy. The muedin assented, and the

on. IV.]

The MtMins Vision.

Christian call has been repeated ever since, handed
down orally from muedin to muedin to the present
day, but nnkno'wn to the faithful of Aleppo, wha
hear it but do not distinguish the words. These
are “ Kardus Allah, Kavdus el Kdivi, Kardus illesi
la yemut, erliamna^’’ or in Greek, Agios 'o theos,
agios ‘o tschyros, agios 'o athdnatos, eleison irndsi’’
The story may be apocryphal, but the practice is
certain, and is the only instance in Islam of a
midnight call to prayers. Moreover the words are
strange, place and circumstance considered.

“ December 29. — e thought Ave should like to-
see the prisons and a certain celebrated robber con-
fined there, of Avhom we had heard tales which
interested us. Accordingly Ave Avent to-day to the-
serai and called on Kiamyl Pasha, the present valy
of Aleppo. He received us Avith the usual Turkish
politeness, conversed Avith us in English and at
once granted our request. But first he proposed
that I should visit his ‘ house,’ and himself led
the Avay through a couple of rooms Avhere scA^eral
secretaries sat Avriting, then along passages, up
and doAvn steps, round corners and lastly by a
steep stone staircase into a large square court Avith
a square tank of Avater in the middle of it. At
the door of a handsome room furnished AAdtli French
tables and chairs Ave Avere recciA'cd by the reigning
Avife, a young lady apparently about scA'cntccn years,
of ago and of an agreeable countenance Avith
almond shaped eyes ; she comes of a avcII knoAvn

48 Bedoidn Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. iv.

family, being tlie granddaughter of Jessar Pasha.
She wore a crimson merino dressing-goAvn trimmed
with narrow black lace ; and a piece of gauze
passed under her two long plaits of hair and tied
in a how on the top of her head completed the
costume. We sat down on chairs and talked,
Kiamyl interpreting, for she speaks nothing hut
Turkish. When coffee was over I thought that
the visit might end, hut the Pasha would not move
until I had eaten some sweets and seen the children.
A fat nurse brought in a tray with some bergamot
which is better than the name promises, for in
taste it resembles clotted cream. The same nurse
then fetched the two children, a baby and a boy of
three, both dressed in dingy blouses of dark calico,
of whom their parents were evidently not a little
proud. After sufficiently admiring them I took
leave and was reconducted by the Pasha to the
reception room, where Wilfrid had been waiting
for an hour trying to make the time pass by
smoking cigarettes and conversing mtli Kiamyl’s
eldest son, a very shy young man who hardly
ventured to open his mouth.

“ The Pasha then sent an aide-de-camp to show
us over the gaol which adjoins the serai or official
government house. A prison is not usually a cheer-
ful place, but this was an exception ; and if ever it
is my fate to be shut up for six months, I trust it
may be at Aleppo, rather than at Lewes or Guild-
ford or any other of the well ordered establishments

CH. IV.]

A Cheerftil Dungeon.

of a Christian country. Here the prisoners, apart
from the loss of their freedom, have little to com-
plain of. The gaol consists of a great open court,
with a row of buildings on two sides of it and a
cheerful south-easterly aspect. The walls on the
other sides are not so high but that there is a
pleasant view of the citadel and part of the town.
The cells for common prisoners are on the ground
floor, and those into which we looked seemed com-
fortable enough with carpets and cushions, just like
any peasants’ rooms in a Syrian village. Three or
four men inhabit each; and they enjoy there the
full privilege of eating, talking, quarrelling, or
sleeping, as it suits them, or of joining in the
general society of the prison yard, subject only to
the surveillance of a squint-eyed gaoler and the
occasional discipline of his stick. An upper storey,
with a cheerful balcony, low enough to allow of
conversation with those below, is reserved for the
more dangerous prisoners, mimderers, highwaymen
and debtors. Some of these were in chains, but
all looked fat and healthy, and, being dressed en
bourgeois, were undistinguishable from the most
respectable citizens of Aleppo. In fact the prison-
yard might, from its appearance, have been taken
for a rather animated part of the bazaar, only that
there were no shops, and that the honest fellows
lounging about were without visible employment or
occupation. One of those pointed out to us was a
boy of eighteen or nmetecn, the son of a former

VOL. I.

50 Bedotdn Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. iv.

cavass of the English Consulate. He was under con-
demnation of death, and the history of his trial
will serve to illustrate the strange way in which
justice is administered in the Ottoman Empire.
His father, a very worthy man, was, as I have said,
one of the Consular cavasses (armed men who
attend on European officials to protect them and
add to their dignity). He was a Mussulman, but
one day, being jeered at by some ill-conditioned
fellows in the bazaar as the servant of an infidel,
he had foolishly resented their laughter, maintaining
that his service was honourable, and had been hustled
by the mob and stabbed to death. The matter
was of course taken up warmly at the Consulate,
and the murderers were arrested and convicted
on the evidence of bystanders. But the execu-
tion of the sentence was stayed, on a memorial
being presented purporting to have been signed by
the principal inhabitants of the quarter where the
witnesses lived, and stating that these witnesses
were well known as professional givers of false
evidence. The men accused were about to be re-
leased, but, in deference to a telegram from Con-
stantinople, were detained until a commission should
arrive to pronounce upon the case. The commis-
sion, under Eeshid Effendi, reported the signatures
attached to the memorial to have been forged, and
ordered a new trial. How it is necessary iu Turkey
that, in cases of murder, the nearest relative of the
deceased should head the prosecution, and this had

CH. IV.] Curro Lopez and Curro the Km'd. 5 1

1)6611 done on tlie occasion of the first trial by
Ibrahim, the yonng man we saw in prison to-day.
But, just as proceedmgs were being opened a second
time, another murder, in no way connected with the
first, took place in Aleppo. The cavass’s son was
arrested for this, tried and condemned ; and he
being, from his present position as a felon, disquali-
fied for prosecuting his father’s murderers in the
case he was conducting, the trial has fallen to the
ground. I think it hardly necessary to make much
comment on this, but I will add that Ibrahim’s
previous character was a good one, and that the
evidence on which he was condemned is considered
tmsatisfactory. I should he very sorry for the
young man, if I were not convinced that the matter
will he compromised, and that, on his assurance
that he will not prosecute his father’s murderers,
he will himself he released. The story is a curious
one, and I should like to recommend it to Lord
Salisbury’s notice.

We were disappointed of seeing Curro, the pic-
turesque brigand of whom we have heard so much,
as he was removed a few days ago to the prison at
Jaffa. His history is so like that of his namesake
Curro Lopez in Spain, that we might almost suspect
him of plagiarism.

Ho began life as a saptich (carahinero), succeeded
to a small property, a vineyard, at Ai'ntah in this
province, and for some years led a quiet unevent-
ful life. Unfortunately ho had a neighbour, who

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. iv.

coveted his land and commenced a suit with him
for its possession. The neighbour was richer than
he and won the case; and Curro, disgusted with law
took to the hill (“ el jebel,” Arabic ; “ el monte,”
Spanish). His first exploit was the counterpart
of Jos4 Maria’s. He stopped a captain of infantry
on his way to Homs, took from him seven thousand
piastres, which happened to be just the price of
his vineyard, and sent him to Aleppo with a
bill for that sum drawn on the Valy. After this
he got together a band of followers. His plan in
choosing his men was to run a race with each
candidate to the top of a certain hill, and if the man
kept near him to enlist him. He was himself an
astonishing runner. He generally went on foot,
but on festive occasions, such as weddings, feasts of
circumcision and the like, he often appeared ex-
ceedingly well mounted. He was a little man, but
good-looking and excellent company, so he was a
favourite everywhere, and might be met at most of
the merry-makings in the country. He was polite
and brave, but, unlike his Spanish namesake, only
shed blood in self defence. This was remarkable
in a Kurd, for such he was by birth. He was
distrustful of his comrades, sleeping none of them
knew where, and joining them every morning at
daybreak. His exploits might fill a volume. They
were generally of a dramatic kind. He once met
a peasant carrying a basket of grapes on his head.

What are you carrying that heavy basket for ? ”

CH. IT.]

A Gentleman of the Road.

lie said ; “ have you no donkey ? ” “No,” said the

man, “niy donkey died, and I have no money to
huy another.” “What do donkeys cost in your
village?” he asked. “Five hundred piastres.”
“ Well, here is the money. Get a beast to do
your work, or, when I come this road again and
find you with your baggage on your head, I will
cut it ofi.” Another time he came across a man
who had been working in Aleppo for a year, to get
money enough to marry a girl he was engaged to,
and who was going home to his village with the
produce of his year’s labour. The man begged
Curro to leave him his money, otherwise he said
he must go back and begin again. “ What,” said
Curro, “can you be married for six pounds?
Nonsense. You can never have dancing at your
wedding for that. Here is something to make the
sum respectable. I hate a pauper wedding.” The
man went on his way rejoicing.

A Turkish Efiendi travelling from Aleppo to
Orfa encamped near the village of Katma. The
villagers sent to invite some of his followers to a
merrymaking, and the Efiendi, unsuspecting, con-
sented. All, or almost all his servants went to
the village, the inhabitants of which being Kurds
were in league with Curro. In the middle of the
night the brigand lifted the flap of the Eficndi’s
tent and requested him to give up his money. This
done, Curro looked romid and saw several firearms,
and among them an English doublc-baiTclled fowling

54 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. iv.

piece, which he took up and examined. “ I must
have this,” he said. The Effendi in vain besought
him not to take away this gun, he should never he
able to get another, and being a sportsman should
be miserable without it. But Curro laughed, and
handling the weapon found it was loaded.
“ Coward,” he said, “ and you did not dare to
shoot me ? ”

A Jew of Alej)po, a British subject, was robbed
by Curro of some merchandise, and made a claim
through the British Consulate of a£160. Curro
hearing of this wrote to the Pasha, beginniag his
letter “ My dear friend,” and explaining that the
total value did not exceed ^£27. He enclosed a
regular merchant’s invoice of the goods, with
samples, to show the truth of the statement, and
said he felt obliged to do this in the interests of
honesty.

Once, meeting a bridal party on the road between
two villages, he joined them and introduced himself.
They assured him they had no money, being poor
people, but he answered that the gold coins on the
bride’s neck were a legal tender. “ What,” said
the girl, “ and you call yourself Curro ! ” The
brigand gave up the coins.

Curro used to go into Aleppo in broad daylight
and openly walk about the streets and bazaars,
where everybody knew him, yet nobody for a long
while betrayed him to the authorities. But fate of
course was waiting for him, though he had escaped

OH. IV.]

We make a Mistake.

it many times. He was taken at last in a trap
laid for Mm by a miller, a Christian, who was a
friend of Ms, and who used to lodge Mm at Aleppo.
Soldiers were Mdden in the mill, and Curro was
seized and delivered up to justiee. There was no
charge of murder made against him, but he has
been condemned to fifteen years’ imprisonment for
robbery. M^rim^e would have made a good story
out of tMs.

Before going, Ave asked to see the prisoner who
had been longest in gaol. He was called down
from the balcony and made to stand in an attitnde
of attention and display Ms singularly unattractive
features. He had committed a murder eighteen
years before, and seemed a brutal ill-conditioned
fellow, but Ave were sorry for his long imprison-
ment, and Wilfrid gave him a mejidie. (The
prisoners have to find themselves in everything but
bread and Avater.) The proceeding, we were sorry to
see, gave offence to the officials present, and we felt
rather ashamed at having thus publicly rewarded
crime, a feeling which increased when Mr, Hakdus,
the Consular dragoman who was with us, took us
aside and explained that we had made a mistake.
We begged him to assure the Governor of the gaol
that our intention was merely a charitable one,
“That is very Avell,” said Mr. Hakdus, “and I
perfectly understand your feeling ; but it should
have been a piece of gold, not silver, A croAm
piece Avas unAVorthy of a gentleman of the Bey’s dis-

56 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. it.

tinction.” After complimenting the Pasha on the
excellent state of his prisons, we returned to the
Consulate much impressed hy all that we had
heard and seen.

CHAPTEK V.

“Two pairs of boots, lined with fur, were also taken.”

Cockle’s Adveetisement.

We buy horses, being resolved to join the Anazeh — Hagar — N’ews
from the Desert — ^Wars and rumours of wars— Jeddan at bay
— The world is much “mixed up” — A chajoter on politics.

It was now definitely settled that we were to
joia the Anazeh, and throw in our fortunes with
them for the winter, and that we were to start as
soon as our arrangements should he completed,
and a break should occur in the weather. But a
jornmey of such uncertain duration could not be
undertaken lightly, and there was much to prepare
and much to be thought of before leaving Aleppo.

Besides the tent, which was now finished, we had
horses to buy and mules to engage. Seyd Akhmet
was of use to us in procuring the first ; and, as it
happened, the moment was a very favourable one
for purchasers. There had been fighting in the
desert, and nearly every day a mare would bo
brought in, often with spear-wound still gaping
in evidence of her being prize of war. These
mares were easily distinguishable from the beasts
possessed by the townspeople, by their ragged
unkempt appearance and their emaciated state, for

58 Bedouin Ti'ibes of the Euphrates. [on. v.

many of them had been ridden day and night from
great distances to he brought to market. I cannot
say that in general they were good looking, hut,
here and there, there was an animal of tine shape
and evident breeding, though woefully disfigured,
may be, with broken knees or marks of firing.

After much picking and choosing, however,
"Wilfrid was fortunate enough to secure, for a very
moderate sum, one of those mares, rare enough, as
we found out afterwards, even among the Anazeh,
which make one understand the relationship existing
between our English thoroughbred and the Arabian
horse. She was not remarkably handsome, being
ewe-necked, and having a strange, wild head ; but
her depth of girth and her long muscular hind-
quarters gave promise of what she really possessed
in a wonderful degree, speed and staying power.
These we might find very necessary in our
adventures. Endm’ance of fatigue on the road
and hardiness under want of food are qualities
that may always be reckoned on in buying an
Arab horse, no matter what his looks or what his
pedigree; but speed is exceptional, and confined
to the best strains of blood. Hagar, as we called
her, was of the Xehilan-Ajuz breed, the fastest,
the stoutest, and the most English-looking of them
all. When purchased, she was in very poor
condition, having just gone through the severe
training of a campaign. She was bred by the
Gomussa, the most notable of the horse-breeding

CH. V.]

A Desert Mare.

tribes, bad passed from them to the Eoala, and
had now been captnred and ridden some two
hundred miles in hot haste for sale to Aleppo.
She was a five-year-old mare, a bay with black
points. "We never met anything in our travels
which could compete with her over a distance, and
she has often run down foxes and even hares,
without assistance, carrying thirteen stone on her
back. She was of a mild, gentle temper, and
always went smoothly on, without fret or hurry,
and with the long low stride of an English race-
horse. She never galloped better than when she
seemed worn out with work. She had the
advantage, too, for Wilfrid, of being tall, fifteen
hands, an rmusual height among Arabians.

My own mare was to have been a ManegMeh,
also a powerful mare ; but, as it turned out, I
never rode her, for she got an accidental sore back
before we started, and it ended in my starting on
a horse lent me for the occasion, which I changed
later for something better at Deyr.

The Consul, who was to accompany us for a
part of our Journey, had provided himself with a
sorry-looking, cream-coloured pony, of no preten-
sions to breed or good looks, but which he knew.
It had formerly belonged to the courier who rides
with the post from Aleppo to Alexandretta, and
was bred at Beylan. It was the type of the low-
bred country horse of Syria, resembling very closely
the Assyrian war horses on the has reliefs at

6o Bedotiin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. t.

Nineveh. The likeness is striking, and the form
of both animals eontrasts cnriously with that of
the Arabian horse, not known at that time, perhaps,
in Assyria.

Then we had a cook to engage, and lit npon a
real treasure in the person of Hanna, a Christian
of Aleppo, who had never indeed been out of his
native town, and who spoke the most mincing of
town Arabic, but who proved a faithful and
courageous servant in all our subsequent adven-
tures,— this for only two hundred piastres (forty
francs) a month.

As for baggage animals, the first part of our
jornmey would be along the Euphrates valley,
where the ground in wet weather would not be
favourable for camels ; and it was agreed that we
should engage our old friend Hadji Mahmoud and
his mules again, and trust to purchasing camels
later, when we should have joined the tribes. In
this we broke through om* usual practice, which is,
to buy everything and hire nothing on a journey;
but beasts of burden seemed far from plentiful at
Aleppo, and we were assured that we should find
a better market for them at Deyr, which was
but two himdred miles off, and where we should
know exactly what our further proceedings were to
be. This, as it turned out, and as we ought to
have foreseen, hampered om’ movements consi-
derably, and obliged us to go, not where we
would, but where we could get oiu muleteers to go.

CU. V.]

Presents of Ce^^emony.^^

Besides these things, Ave had cloaks, boots, tobacco,
and sugar to buy, as presents for the Sheykhs
whose hospitality we were about to claim. These
gifts are entirely conventional, and do not in any
way represent payment for services rendered. The
offering of a cloak is a complimentary usage, and
its value must be nicely graduated according to the
rank of the giver and that of the receiver. As we
afterwards found, it requires some tact to know
exactly whom to honour and whom not to honour
with these presents of ceremony; and an inch or
two of embroidery more or less may make the whole
difference in your position with a Sheykh you are
anxious to oblige, or with his neighbours whom you
cannot afford to offend. The boots are less necessary ;
but they also are usually given to be passed on to
servants ; while the tobacco and the sugar are offer-
ings which more nearly touch the heart, and are
added as something more than a symbol of good-
will. With them the inner tent is propitiated ; the
screened-off dwelling where the women cook and
chatter.

A few more pages from my journal will explain
the excitement in which the last few days of our
stay at Aleppo were spent :

Decemhet" 30. — This morning a wild-looking little
Arab, in a very tattered cloak, and monntcd on a
rat of a mare, rode into the garden with Seyd
Akhmet and his nephew, J cmda. lie was an Anazch,
of the Gomvissa tribe, who had been sent by Ibn

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. v.

Mershid, their Sheykh, with his compliments and
a message that, hearing of our intended visit to
the Anazeh, he hoped to have the honour of re-
ceiviug us. The man had come in from Bishari,
a ten days’ ride; and the fact shows that the
Bedouins have a well organised system of obtaiu-
ing news, as it is not three weeks since our
journey was first talked of among ourselves, or a
fortnight since Seyd Akhmet heard of it. Besides
his message, he had a serious piece of news to
give. It appears that the Eoala are at open war
with the rest of the Anazeh. According to his
account, it was begun by their stealing some camels
belonging to the Sebda, a rich but unwarlike
tribe, who, in the fighting which accompanied the
raid, lost five of their men prisoners to the Eoala.
These, contrary to all law and custom, and for some
unexplained reason, had their throats cut by the
victorious tribe ; a thing the like of which has not
happened for generations, if ever ; whereupon,
fearing the vengeance which would certainly follow
on their crime, the Eoala fled to Homs, and put
themselves under the protection of Yusef Pasha,
the Turkish governor. He, pleased enough to
interfere, invested Ibn Shaalan, their Sheykh, with
a robe of honour and the title of Sheykh of the
desert, and sent a body of troops to help them. In.
this evil company they advanced against the Sebda,
who retired before them, sending to Jeddan for
assistance, which was at once given. The Feddan

CH. V.] Wars and R^imonrs of Wai's.

and Sebda together now turned upon the Eoala,
put the soldiers to flight, and captured twenty of
their enemies, whom Jeddan at once treated as they
had treated the flve Sebda. He then returned to
the neighbourhood of Deyr, where he still is, while
the Eodla have fled south into the Hamdd. This
is an ugly story in every way, but it need not have
any etfect upon our own proceedings. The Eodla
will naturally keep clear of their offended kinsmen,
and will not go with them to Jebel Shammar this
year ; and it may even be fortunate, as their being
all in trouble may make Jedaan still more anxious
to do a service to so powerful a friend as Mr. S.
The Anazeh, however, are likely to hasten their
journey southwards, and we must start immediately
if we wish to And them still within reach. Wilfrid
sent at once for Hadji Mahmoud, and agreed that
he should take us, with flve baggage mules, to
Deyr, and that we should start on Wednesday . . .

January 3, 1878. — Great news has come from
Deyr. The Eodla, it appears, upon their defeat by
the Sebda, sent to Ibn Sfiik, the Shammar chief,
for help, and he despatched at once his nephew, or
cousin, Smeyr, to the Hamdd. This Smeyr, after
seeing the Eodla, went on to Jebel Shammar, to
claim the assistance of Mohammed Ibn Eashid,*
which in turn was granted ; and now the southern
Shammar, with Ibn Eashid at their head, are
marching with the Eodla to attack Jedaan and the

* Brother of Teldl Ibn Easbid, Mr. Palgravo’s friend.

64 Bedoidn Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. v.

rest of the Anazeh in the north. Jedaan has left
Bfshari and has taken a more defensible position
at Esserieh, where the Weldi, a tributary and
friendly tribe, are encamped, and where there is a
line of hills about half way between Palmyra and
Deyr. The latter town is frightened at these pre-
parations for war, and troops are being sent there
from Aleppo. On the whole, a pretty kettle of
fish ; and our prospects of getting to Jebel Sham-
mar this year are growing doubtful. "Wilfrid says
our best chance is to join Jeddan at once, help him
in his fight with Ibn Eashid, and then, if victorious,
go down with him south as he pursues the Sham-
mar. But this will depend on the chances of war ;
and Mohammed has guns, while the Anazeh have
none. Another plan he thinks would be, to join
the Eodla, by which means we might easily make
friends with Ibn Eashid, and go back with him ;
but our sympathies are more or less pledged to the
Sebaa now, and we could not side against them
in a crisis like this. Mr. S. is on friendly terms
with both ; but his principal ally is Jeddan : so to
Jeddan we must stick. Besides it is a far cry to
Jebel Shammar ; and Mohammed can hardly take the
field in any great force. The Eodla muster perhaps
twenty thousand lances; but the Sebda can bring
twice as many into the field; and Ibn Eashid’s
matchlocks will hardly make matters equal between
them. Jeddan, too, has the reputation of being a
great warrior and a prudent general, and has

CH. V.] We Prepare for a Campaign. 65

chosen his ground. Let us hope for the best. If
fighting takes place during our stay with the
Anazeh, Wilfrid will be expected to take his share
of it. He would not wish to use firearms, unless
firearms were used against him ; but it is as well
to be ready, so we have spent the morning casting
revolver bullets and making cartridges. To quote
Canon Tristram: “As we dropped our bullets into
our fowling pieces, I breathed a fervent prayer that
no blood might be shed.”

January 4. — Seyd Akhmet came again with con-
firmation of the war news from Deyr. Everybody
is of opinion that Jedaan will be beaten, and
perhaps even forced to surrender, at Bishari; for
it is by no means certain that he will be able to
make good his retreat on Esserieh. Ibn Sfuk and
the Shammar from Mesopotamia have probably
ah’eady crossed the Euj)hrates to cut him off, and,
if they succeed in this, he will be isolated, as the
Moali and the rest of his allies are still far to the
north. Wilfrid fancies they make too much ac-
count of Ibn Eashid’s guns, which are no doubt
VTetched pieces of ordnance, and it appears there
are only two of them ; but everybody here thinks
J eddan lost. This is likely to be the greatest war
ever kno-wn in the desert since the Anazeh drove
out the Shammar two hundred years ago. If
Jedaan has to surrender, the Scb;ia, who are the
richest and most civilised of all the tribes, Avill be
reduced to poverty and, with them, the Ecdiian,

VOL. I.

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. v.

wlio have the name of being the greatest warriors.
The laws of war Avill give everything they possess,
mares, camels, sheep, tents — do\vn to the pots and
pans — to the conquerors ; and these great tribes
will have to depend on the charity of the Moali
and the Beni Sakkhr, or even their old tributaries,
the Weldi, Aghedaat and others.

We had a council of war in consequence of this
news, — Seyd Akhmet, who has agreed to go with us,
giving us a lively picture of the state of things in
the desert. “ The world,” he said, “ is much mixed
up at present ” [maJcloot^ mesclada, m^le), and it may
he better to wait events ; “but the Beg, whose servant
I am, must decide. When he says the word ‘ mount,’
I am ready.” Wilfrid is all forgoing on at once to
Deyr, where we shall be nearer to what happens,
and where at least we shall see something new, and
be on the spot to act as circumstances may suggest.
It may be an excellent opportunity, too, he thinks,
for buying horses ; as, after the battle, property will
change hands, and is very likely to be sent to the
hammer. I hope Jedaan may prove a match for
his enemies ; but I don’t quite like throwing in our
lot with him just now.

January 5. — There is a new account to-day of
the origin of the war in the desert, which just now
interests us a thousand times more than all that is
happening in Bulgaria and Armenia. It appears that
Meshur, the young sheykh of the Gomiissa, a Sebda
tribe, the very one who sent us the polite invi-

cir. V.]

Wa7' in the Desert.

tation a few days ago, has been the principal cause
of it all. There was some dispute about camels
between the Sebaa and the Roala, both Anazeh
tribes, but old rivals ; and the Turkish government,
being on bad terms with the former, supported the
latter in its pretensions. Sotamm Ibn Shaalan, the
Eoala chief, thinldng to settle matters, called upon
Heshiir, and, contrary to all etiquette, did so in
company with some Turkish officers who were
staying with him. This Meshiir resented, and, in
the dispute which followed, Ibn Shaalan was run
through the body by the young man with his sword.
Mehemet Ali, a former cavass of the Consulate, and
a man who Imows the desert well, brought us this
news; but he only half believes it, and does not
believe at all the story of prisoners’ throats having
been cut on either side, as it is a practice quite
unknown among the respectable Bedouin tribes.

Hadji Mahmoud has backed out of going with
us, and insists upon double the usual price for the
hire of his animals, on account of “ war risks,”
there being some possibility of onr meeting a Sham-
mar expedition on its way to help the Eoala. Mr. S.
Avould be no protection to us against these, as he has
ahvays been on bad terms with the Shammar, and
is known as a friend of dcdcian. We shall probably
have to take an escort, after all, from the Pasha, who
is sending troops for the protection of Deyr, which
place seems to be in danger of pillage by one party
or the other. It is tiresome, as we shall lose our

F 2

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. v.

independence ; but T\'e know so little of the country
as yet that it is best to be on the safe side.”

Thus filled Avith doubts and fears, and reports of
Avar, and anticipations of adventure, the last days
of our stay at Aleppo passed. Hoav little the sequel
justified our apprehensions Avill presently appear.
In the meantime, before finishing the chapter, I
Avill explain Avhat proved to be the real nature of
this desert quarrel of AAdiich aa'o heard so much.
We did not learn it Avith any certainty till long
aftei’Avards.

The real history then is as folloAVS : — The Turks
haA'e at all times held it as a maxim, in their
goA^ernment of Syria, to keep the Bedouin tribes
Avholesomely engaged in internecine Avar ; securing,
by this means, for the country districts adjoining
the desert, immunity from molestation by their un-
quiet neighbours. It is also a time-honoured practice
Avith the Pashas to remove quietly such of their
political opj)onents as they conA'enientty can, by any
of the old-fashioned methods noAV disused in Euro]De ;
and the result, I am bound to say, generally justifies
the means, morality apart. It AA^as thus that, tAva
years ago, finding Sviliman Ibn Mershid, the
Gomussa sheykh, assuming too poAverful a position
Avdth the Sebaa tribes, the then gOA’ernor of Deyr,
in the interest of the public safety, iuA’ited him to
dinner, and, haAung entertained him honourably,
sent him back, AAdth presents in his hand, to die of
an unexpected and hardly natural death in the

CH. V.]

07'igin of the War.

desert. Siilinian’s people, who adored their chief,
were displeased at so sudden a result of the Pasha’s
hospitality, attributing the Sheykh’s disease to a
certam cup of coffee he had imprudently partaken
of alone ; and a coolness ensued between them and
the Turkish authorities in consequence. This Avas
adroitly used to produce further complications
detrimental to the Bedouins. The Sebaa have,
from time immemorial, enjoyed the right conceded
to them by desert custom of the pasturage
opposite Homs and Hama; wliile the Eoala, their
rivals, haA^e occupied the neighbouring district of
Damascus. This year, it happened that the latter,
groAvn rich in camels through a succession of
faA’ourahle breeding seasons, Avere looking round
them for additional pasturage, Avhen they bethought
them of the differences existing hetAveen the repre-
sentatives of Siiliman Ihn Mershid and the Turks.

It is the Aveakness of the Bedouin position, in
regard of the GoA'ernment, that, though quite
independent of their control during great part of
the year, they are obliged, in spring, to seek a
market for their young camels, horses and wool, in
the neighbourhood of some one or other of the
toAAOis. They also haA^o their year’s supply of
corn to purchase, dates, coffee, tobacco, and even
clothes. For this they depend on the goodAvill of
the Pasha in poAver, Avho ahv^ays makes them pay
a round sum for the privilege of trading ; and
their necessity gives him the opportunity for any

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [cn. r.

intrigues "wliich he may he planning among them,
A fixed price was paid yearly by the Sebaa for
theii’ privilege, and the use of the pasturage of
Hama and Homs. 33nt Sotamni, the Eodla sheykh,
came forward, this year, Avith an offer of nearly
tAvice that sxim and, by a prAate gift of mares
to the goA^ernor of Hdma, secured his support in
occupying the pasturage in their stead. The Sebaa,
coming up from the south, found the Eotila already
in possession; and, refusing to retire, Avere pre-
sently attacked by them, and by a body of Turkish
infantry, Sotamm’s allies. The camps of the
Moayaja and Gomnssa, tAVO of their tribes, Avere
sacked, tents, household furniture, camels and mares
taken ; and the Sebaa Avere driven back to the
southern desert. These noAV called upon Jedaan,
their new aldd or military chief, to help them Avith
his OAvn tribe ; and, thus reinforced, they turned
the tables on the Eoala, Avho, deserted by the
Turkish Government, Avhich had got all it wanted,
were left to fight it out alone. Jedaan defeated
them in a pitched battle near Jabiil, taking many
mares and killing some fifty of their men (a large
number for a Eedonin battle) ; and they Avere
forced back in confusion to their old quarters near
Damascus. It was then that they sent to Ferhan,
the sheykh of the Shammar, and to Ibn Eashid, for
help ; and that Smeyr, Ferhan’s cousin, aaus dis-
patched on a diplomatic mission to Hiyel to
negotiate matters for them AAuth his kinsmen of

CH. y.

End of the Feud.

Jebcl Shanimar. There seems, at one time, to
have been an expectation of the latter’s really
helping them; but Ibn Eashid never conld have
seriously thought of dragging his pieces of ordnance
five hundred miles across the desert on such an
expedition. Smeyr’s mission failed ; and the Eoala,
being still pressed by their enemy, retreated to
their winter quarters in the Wady Sirhan, leaving
Jedaan with the Sebaa to enjoy their triumph at
Bishari till, at the usual time, they followed them
in their migration into the Hamad. At the time
we left Aleppo Jedaan Avas still at Bishari.

This rather long and, I fear, dull account is
necessary for the right understanding of the Bedouin
politics Avhich so much interested us all through the
Avdnter. Later on, and when the chief actors of the
drama come upon my stage, I hope to make these
matters more generally entertaining.

CHAPTER VI.

“ Shall packhorses.

And hollow pampered jades of Asia,

Which cannot go but thirty mile a day,

Compare with C83sars and with cannibals.

And Trojan Greeks.”

SHAKESPEi.EE.

We leave Aleppo — Wandering in the dark — An Arab village — The
Desert — First view of the Euphrates — A Weldi camp — Zaptiehs
— A melancholy exile and a dish of francolins — Bivouacking
by the river.

January 9, 1878. For a party of old travellers,
such as Ave are, our start this morning certainly was
disgraceful. Upon a journey, it is prudent to make
the first day’s march an easy one ; and, for tliis
reason, we had chosen Jahvil as our stage, only
fifteen miles from Aleppo, hoping to be in early
enough in the afternoon to get our things about us
before it should he night. It had been arranged
Avith Seyd Akhmet that he should take us to the
house of one of his people there ; and we thought
that the arrangement Avould save us trouble, and
that AA’e should find food and shelter ready for us
on this, the first night of our journey. But all has
gone Avrong.

Wilfrid of course Avas up at cockeroAv, and had
the baggage out in the yard, almost before the sun

CH. VI.]

Off with a Bad Start.

was up ; but the rest of the preparations were not
so fonvard, and it was half past nine before the
baggage animals could be dispatched. So far,
hoAvever, so good; but with ourselves it was a
different matter. First, a message arrived from the
Serai to enquire whether we really intended to start
this morning ; for, in the East, it is not usual
to start on the day fixed, and the escort we had
agreed to take was but half ready ; then Mr. S.
discovered that he had certain matters of business
to transact, before leaving the Consulate, and
despatches to write ; a mare too, Avhich had been
piu’chased to share Creamy’s duties, was found,
unaccountably, to have a sore back; and Seyd
Akhmet had not appeared. Lastly, it was agreed
that, so much time having been lost, it would be
imprudent not to wait a little longer, and have
breakfast first.

In the course of the morning, the zaptiehs, or
mounted police, four men and a sergeant, arrived,
representing, they informed us, the body of fifty
regulars promised by the Pasha. The fewer the
merrier, we thought ; for, in truth, they are not
very attractive companions, if looks bo any index to
character. The sergeant, Suliman Aga, is a broad-
shouldered, powerful Turk, with a heavy dark
countenance made darker by a black head-dress.
He wears a sort of military cloak, but is not other-
wise in uniform ; and his men are uudistinguishable
from the country people, at least to unpractised

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [oh. vi.

eyes, except by the colour of their Icefhjes (hand-
kerchiefs for the head). They seem good-
humoiu’ed though, and perhaps will improve on
acquaintance. At half past one the horses were
saddled ; and, a little after, the last adieux made.
Then we all moimted ; and, accompanied by a crowd
of retainers from the Consulate, crying, as the
custom is, and Idssing the consular stirrups, Ave
rode aAvay, Avith only four hours of daylight before
us. and no chance of getting in before dark. Seyd
Akhmet, moreover, had neither come nor sent ; and
it Avas doubtful Avhere Ave should find our baggage,
as the house of rendezvous Avas not exactly in the
village of Jabvil.

HoAveA'er, we Avere too pleased to be off to think
much of possible mischances. It Avas colder than
ever ; and, as Ave took our Avay across the desolate
hills toAvards the south east, the Avind Avas just in
oiu’ faces. The sky Avas like lead, and seemed to
threaten snoAV. The track Ave Avere folloAving was very
like that by AA^hich Ave arriA^ed from Alexandretta,
stony and muddy ; but I shoidd liaA^e proposed
a canter, as soon as we were outside the toAvn,
to Avarni ourseh^es, and make up for the lost hours
of the morning, if it had not been that Creamy AA^as
hardly equal to it, and could not be left behind.

This, hoAvever, is to be our last day in cultivated
ground, and Ave must have patience. To-morrow
Ave shall be in the desert. Every here and there,
we passed the sites of old villages, or perhaps towns ;

CH. VI.]

All Hanndcly Settlement.

blit tlieii’ names are forgotten. Just at sunset, ive
caught sight of the salt lake on which Jabiil stands,
and presently we descended from the upper country
into a j)lain, just noiv turned into a swamp by the
heavy rains we have been having. Through this
we floundered for an hour or two, Creamy coming
even once or twice to his knees, a not very pleasant
accident for his rider, as the water was almost
freezing ; and at one moment there seemed a prospect
of our having to spend the night out of doors. At
last, however, we heard dogs barking, and then saw
a light, which we knew must be a village, though
it Avas not Jabiil; and to this we rode tlu'ough
V'ater up to our horses’ knees. It is rather a
disagreeable thing to hai’e to ride into an Arab
Aullage in the dark, as it is sure to be surrounded by
a honeycomb of ivells, and holes for storing corn ;
and, more than once, I found myself on the brink
of one of those ; but horses seem to see in the dark ;
and there is an Arabic proverb to this effect ; so I
let my beast grope its oivn way with a loose rein.
The village ivas not Jabiil ; but its inhabitants
directed us on our Avay, and, half an hour later, ive
Avere much relicA^ed at hearing a horse gallopping
toAA'ards us. It Avas a scout sent out by our anxious
host to shoAv us the Avay to his house. A Avrctchcd
j)lace it is, as all the fixed habitations of Arabs arc,
comfortless as a tent, Avithout doors, or AvindoAVS, or
floor and, being immoA'able, inconcch^ably dirty.
Ho Avonder the licdouins refuse to change Avandcring

76 Bedouin Tribes of the Ettphrates. [ch. vi.

homes for such as these. We were shown into
a little room about eight feet square, with a bit of
dirty sacking hung up before the door, to keep out
the wind, and a bit of dirty carpet laid down on the
dirtier floor, and a couple of dirty cushions in a
corner. In this our baggage was piled, all muddy
and squalid and comfortless. A m'etched night, but
we have agreed it shall be our last under a roof, be
the cold what it may.

After all, Eyssa, our host, received no notice of
our arrival till the baggage came ; so he has not
had time to make us a feast. We have devoured
our dinner almost in darkness, the cold legs of a
turkey provided, fortunately, by Mrs. S., and are
looking forward, with no pleasant prospects, to our
night’s rest. A girl of fifteen, Eyssa’ s sister-in-
law, was sent to milk some ewes just now, which
are folded in a yard about a hundred yards off from
the house ; but she did it in fear and trembling, on
account of wolves, she said, which the cold weather
has driven doum to the villages. One came into
the yard this very afternoon.

Eyssa’ s father, Batran, was slieykh of the
Hannady, when they were sent from Egypt by
Mehemet Ali ; a brave man, but ill-famed for his
cruelty. On one occasion, having taken prisoners
thirty of the Shammar, he cut their throats and
thi'ew them into a cave near here. At his father’s
death Ej^ssa was too young to succeed as sheykh,
and Iris luicle, Seyd Akhmet, took his place. We

CH. VI.]

Last Night indoors.

asked Eyssa hoAV lie eoiild be eontent with the life
of di. fellah (or cultivator of the soil) when his father
had been a Bedouin. He said it paid better. He
was grooving rich. The fact is, these Hannady are
Egyptians, hardly true Bedouins. Ho Anazeh, I
suppose, would consent to such a transaction. Mr.
S. asked him too what had become of Seyd Akhmet.

What ! ” he answered, “ you have knovm Seyd
Akhmet these twenty years, and you have ever
known him to keep his word ! ”

January 10. — Jabiil by daylight is not more
attractive than Jabiil in the dark. Like all the
villages bordering on the desert, it is the type of
WTetchedness and squalor, and life in such places
would seem to have no redeeming feature to make
it tolerable. Pastoral life, to be attractive, needs
to be nomadic, and the Arabs, even after they
settle and become ploughmen, insist on keeping
sheep. The consequence is, the ground, for some
miles round their villages, is poisoned and trodden
down by their flocks, and is a barer wilderness
than any part of the desert. A fixed sheepfold,
especially in rainy iveather, is as disgusting as a
pigstye. As we looked out in the grey morning
and took note of all this, it was not hard to under-
stand the contempt a Bedonin feels for his fellows
who have become “ fcllahin.”

Warned by the discomforts of our arrival yester-
day, we made an earlier start ; and a very few miles
brought us fairly into the desert. The sun came out,

78 Bedouin Tidies of the Euphrates, [ch. yi.

and there seemed a chance of more genial weather ;
and with it onr spirits rose. There was at first a
kind of road or track leading across a perfectly level
plain towards a conical hill between ns and the snn ;
bnt this gradually disappeared, or we left it, and,
as we got beyond the poverty-stricken radius of the
village, the ground assumed a more cheerful aspect.
The loose stones had disappeared, and onr path was
over a light crisp soil thinly covered with grass \
nothing to break its uniformity bnt occasional lines
of mole-hills straight and regular as if drawn mecha-
nically, and sometimes a couple of hundred yards
long, and here and there clusters of jerboa holes, —
except for these, the most beautiful galloping ground
conceivable. At the foot of the tell, or mound,
when we arrived there, we found the first tents.
Shabby as they were, they had a look of neatness
after the houses we had left. They belonged to
the Hannady, Seyd Akhmet’s people ; and in the
neghbomdiood were flocks of sheep, each with its
shepherd. It was an agreeable scene, and made ns
regret that we had not made a better day’s march
yesterday and pitched our own tents alongside of
these. Wilfrid and I rode up to the top of the tell,
from which there is a really fine view of level plain
stretching green on every side. It is interesting
too as being the scene of Jediian’s late battle with
the Eoala; and Wilfrid’s mare, Hagar, who pro-
bably took part in the fight, grew very fidgety as
Ave got near the place. This may perhaps have

CH. VI.]

We I'each the Desert.

been an accident, but it helped us to realise the
scene of battle. The name of the tumulus is Khsaf.

Some ten miles to the south-east appeared another
hill, which was pointed out to us as the next land-
mark for Avliich we had to steer. We left Mr.
S. and the zaptiehs to escort the baggage, and
pushed on. Everything was new and delightful to
us ; and there was a lightness in the desert air
which made us long for an adventure, if adventures
had been possible in such a place and in such com-
pany as the tiresome Turkish police. We rode up
to one or two of the shepherds and asked them a
few questions, which they answered amiably enough.
They were very busy separating the neAV-born lambs
from their mothers ; for Aveaning begins here almost
from the day of birth. Then AA^e saAV a flock of
something we took for gazelles or bustards, but
Avhich turned out to be cranes from the lake. There
were, besides, rooks, grey croAVS, kites, and seA^eral
small haAvks. Presently we came to a little stream
AAuth a border of greener grass on either side, AAdiere
there Avere more shepherds. We let our horses
drink, as they had had no water since yesterday.
This bit of desert is more attractive than any AA^e
have seen in Algeria or Egypt. Any part of it
would make a race course.

From the second hill avc Avcrc to sec a guard-
house ; but of this there Avas no sign, so Ave Avaited
till the caravan came up. It consists of seven
baggage beasts (six horses and a mule) driven by

So Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. vi.

two hatter jis (irmleteers), Hadji Mahmoud’s brother
and another. Our cook, Hanna, (a Syrian Christian,
and not a woman, as his name would seem to imply,
for Hanna is Arabic for John,) is mounted on the
very pony Wilfrid rode from Alexandretta. He
has got himself up in a Bedouin disguise, of which
he is as proud as Punch ; and Mr. S.’s servant,
Jiirgy, (Oeorge), in similar attire, rides a colt of his
master’s, and leads the mare with the sore back.
Siiliman, the sergeant, has a cross-bred Arab which
is a good walker, and seems up to his rather heavy
weight ; and the other zaptiehs have rough-looking
beasts, one of them only a two-year-old. Mr. S.,
in a long black cloak and with a yellow handkerchief
bound round his hat, gives dignity to the procession.
We have come too far to the right, it appears, and
now strike a line due east and follow this all day,
till at about three o’clock we come to broken ground,
announcing the neighbourhood of the great valley
of the Euphrates which we are in search of. Mr. S.
enlivens the road with tales of Bedouin life and
manners, and relates the story of his rescue by
Akhmet Beg (mentioned before), on the spot where
the adventure happened. Suddenly we come to the
edge of the plain, and the valley is before us.
Much as I have expected of this, and often as I
have tried to imagine the scene since we first
decided on our journey, the reality surpasses all.

The valley of the Euphrates is a deep, broad
cutting in the desert, Avith chalky cliffs bounding

CH. VI.] Fh'st Sight of the Euphrates.

it abruptly on either side. At the point where we
came upon it, it is about five miles wide, and
perhaps a hundred and fifty feet below the level
of the upper plain. The valley is a long, level
meadow, green as emerald, and covered with fioeks
of sheep. We counted twenty of these, with
perhaps a thousand sheep in each. Above, were
the tents of the Wdldi, an honest and thriving
tribe of Arabs, who often take charge of sheep for
the Anazeh, when they go south, or for the towns-
people of Aleppo, with whom they share the produce.
A sheep here may be worth five or six shillings.
This part of the valley is called the plain of
Melakh; and it was here that Jedaan had the
skirmish with Asmeh Pasha. We could see the
river winding to and fro in this great meadow far
away, fringed with a deep, bro'wn belt of tamarisks,
in great curves and reaches. It seems as big as
the Danube at Belgrade. On our way down the
clifi, which was by a side ravine, we passed the
grave of Abd ul Aziz, one of the Shammar chiefs,
who was killed in battle here by the Anazeh, ten
years ago. It is only a cairn of stones.

After this, we turned to the right and went on
close under the line of cliffs, for an hour, to a place
where the river, having crossed the valley, sweeps
round in a fine bend. Here it has been proposed
to make the station for steamers, so soon as they
shall run. Indeed, the steamer, which has been
occasionally sent up for Government purposes from

VOL. I.

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vi.

Bagdad, already makes this its extreme point up the
river; and a little fort and some buildings have
been erected for the protection of the place. It is
called M^sqnineh, and is not marked on the maps.
We found all deserted on account of the war. We
have looked inside the huts, and have decided that
we will sleep out of doors.

January 11. — Mr. S., who has not been on
horseback for several years, was so much fatigued
last night that we were really alarmed about him.
As soon as we arrived at Mdsquineh, he got off his
horse, lay down on the grass, and went sound
asleep; nor coidd we wake him even for dinner.
He is well again to-day. I suppose our day’s
journey yesterday must have been close on forty
miles. It was fortunately a warmer night than
most of those we have been having lately ; for the
katterjis arrived so late that we had not time to
think of pitching a tent. We only got out oiu:
carpets and blankets, and slept as we were — on
rather short commons too, for no arrangements
have been made for onr commissariat; and the
remains of the turkey and bread was about all we
had. Poor, however, as our night’s lodging was,
we all agreed that it was far better than another
such experience as that of Jabul.

One advantage of sleeping out of doors is, that
everybody is ready to get up in the morning. It
v/as so cold that, long before dawn, the servants
were astir, making a fire and boilmg water for

CH. VI.]

A Night out of Doom's.

the cottee. There is plenty of good firewood from
the iarfa^ or tamarisk jnngle, which fringes the
river ; and, as soon as it was light, we had break-
fast, packed np, and were off. Onr course lay
along the right bank of the river, which here has a
general direction of nearly dne east. "We passed
•close to the rnins half way np the cliff of Bdllis, or
Ballesis, principally remarkable for a very tall
octagonal tower of Saracenic architecture ; an im-
posing structure, and giving a notion of the im-
portance of this region in former times.

A little further on, we passed another ruined
castle, Dipsi, standing on the extreme edge of a
jutting piece of cliff, and secured, formerly, from
assault by a deep cleft, cut across the tongue of
rock connecting it with the upper desert. In all
probability there was once a drawbridge across
this. The river just below gives a sweep right
under the cliff, so that there is no means of passing
below, and one is obliged to climb to the upper
plain again. The cliff here is composed of a sub-
stratum of chalk, with a conglomerate crust above.
The chalk, being the softer of the two, is in many
places hollowed out into caves and recesses, which
the conglomerate overhangs. These are much used
by birds and beasts. Jackals and foxes occupy the
more accessible caves, and haAvks, jackdaAvs, and
rock pigeons, the higher ones. I thinlc I noticed
a Bonelli’s eagle roosting in one last night, but I
cannot bo quite sure.

G 2

84 Bedotlin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cu. vi.

The road now cuts off a bend of the river, cross-
ing a bit of very stony desert, and then goes down
again into the valley. From the high ground there
was a fine view over miles of tamarisk jungle, in
which the river is lost ; and on the plain below
were a number of mnd-huts in ruins, called Abn-
Ghr^ra. This is one of a series of villages made
by order of Aslan, an enterprising Pasha, about
four years ago, for the Anazeh, whom he thought
he had persuaded or bullied into abandoning their
nomadic life and becoming felMhin. This, of
com'se, they never had the remotest intention of
doing, and the huts were never inhabited.

As we skirted the river, we came upon numerous
flocks of ducks, geese, plovers, and, in a small
lagoon caused by a late flood, some hundreds of
coots. The sergeant, Siiliman, could not resist this
sight, and unswaddling his gun (for he had it well
■wrapped up in a red leather case, besides other
coverings), went off to stalk his game. But the
coots would not sit still for him to take aim, and
fluttered away; so he prudently reserved his fire.
Wilfrid had left his gun with Hanna, which was
vexatious, as we were grievously in Avant of pro-
visions. A little before sunset, we came upon a
Weldi camp, set at the edge of a tamarisk jungle.
Some five-and-tAventy soldiers Avere already quar-
tered on the Arabs ; and our escort were, of course,
delighted at the prospect of talking, Avhich is one
of the dearest pleasures in the East. So Ave Avere

CH. VI.]

We Encamp with the Wddi.

made to dismount and accept the officer’s hospi-
tality (the Weldi sheykh being thrust unceremo-
niously into the background), and sit on his carpets
and drink his coffee, while he entertained us with
stories of wild beasts, which, he informs us, in-
fest the neighbourhood. Like all Turks in this
country, he is very sorry for himself, bewailing his
dreary exile from Stamboul, complaining of the
Arabs and the place where he is quartered (it
seems to us a garden of Eden), and of the
boils with which his hands are covered. He is
indeed a piteous sight. He was left at this camp
when the rest of the troops were Avithdrawn for
the war, and has been here nearly six months,
having no occupations, amusements, or what are
called ‘‘resources Avithin himself.” He urged us to
spend the night in his tent, instead of sleeping out
of doors, as Ave should certainly be carried oft’ by
lions in the night. Only a fortnight before, some
mules had been seized and devoured in broad day-
light; and a child had been taken out of a tent
someAvhere close by. He Avas delighted to see
traA'ellers ; and condoled Avith me very earnestly on
the hardships of the road, hinting that he Avas accus-
tomed to quite a different kind of life, comforts and
luxuries “ such as these poor Arabs,” Avaving his
hand, “ had never dreamt of.” Ho asked about the
Avar, or rather, about the prospect of peace, and
Avhen Avo told him that this Avas likely, Avent on
repeating hi a plaintive A'oico “ Inshallah, in-

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vi.

shallah” (please God, please God) for nearly a
quarter of an hour.

Hanna had by this time come up ; and Wilfrid,
taking his gun, went down into the jungle to see if
he could get us something for dinner ; for he had
heard birds calling in the wood, which he thought
must be some kind of partridge. He was away till
quite dusk ; and we heard him fire several times. I
confess that until he returned the lion stories
haunted me, and I had not a quiet moment. He
came back, however, and told us that he had fol-
lowed the birds he had heard a considerable way,
and had found that they were calling, as pheasants
do when they fly up to roost; but he had not
succeeded in getting a shot at one. The wood was
full of magpies, and it was difiicult to distinguish
in the thickets what birds the others were. He
had killed a magpie in mistake for one, and then,
coming to an open space, had sat down. Pre-
sently woodcocks began flying over his head, and
he had got three. The jungle abounds with
jackals, which we heard all the evening whining
close to the camp ; but Wilfrid neither saw nor
heard any other wild beast. We made our
bivouac under a bush just outside the camp,
where the soldiers talked and sang half the
night. This, with the barking of dogs and the
fldgeting of the soldiers’ horses, made the evening
not one of undistxxrbed repose ; but we were tired
and slept well.

CH. -VI.] Francolin Shooting. 87

Although, the nights are cold, -vve do not suffer,
as we have plenty of things — first an oilskin cloth
on the ground, then a turkey carpet, then each
a cotton quilt folded double, to serve as bed. Over
us we spread our eiderdowns ; and, over these again,
a Turcoman carpet, and another oil-skin over all.
In this way we do not feel even the heavy dews
which fall at night.

January 12. — It was a bright morning ; and
across the river there Avas a beautiful vieAV of Jaber,
an ancient castle, and once a place of importance.*
We had no sooner left the camp than we saAv a pair
of francolins enjoying the sunshine, just outside the
jungle ; and Wilfrid was fortunate enough to get
them both. The cock francolin is certainly one of
the most beautiful birds in the Avorld ; and seems to
stand about half way betAveen the partridge and the
pheasant. He has a magnificent plumage, black,
spotted Avith white ; his back and wings russet, and
his legs red. The hen is plainer, and might be
taken for a hen pheasant that had lost her tail.
Like pheasants, they seem to roost in trees, and they
Avere, no doubt, the birds that Wilfrid heard calling
last night. Hanna Avas in ecstasies at the sight of
such capital provisions, and has given us a dish this
evening Avorthy of Brillat-SaAmrin. Indeed the

* Kalat Jaber, besieged in 1146 by Zengui, ruler of Mosul.
He was assassinated, and his army retired. Jaber sustained
several other sieges. See Abulfeda (Recueil des Ilistoriens des
Croisades) ; Benjamin of Tudela (Charton, Yoyageurs Anciens ot
Modemes).

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. vi.

francolin seems to realise tlie poet’s dream, wlio
wrote,

“ If the partridge had the woodcock’s thigh
It would be the best bird that ever did fly.”

Besides these birds, of wHch another brace was
brought to bag, Wilfrid got three or four rock
pigeons, than which there is nothing better for the
cooking pot. So we are now in clover.”

LlbHARY

OFTHt

umvusiTv or ilunuis

V ■

C' \ '

iKx /

Bi ■

SARACENIC MILL ON THE EUPHRATES.

CHAPTEE VII.

“Now the hungry lion roars,

And the wolf behowls the moon.**

Lion district of the Euphrates — The Afuddli hunters — A Bedouin

Barnum — The Kaimakam of Eakka — A wild ass — Sport in the

tamarisk jungle — A wonderful horse — We arrive at Deyr.

“We have been riding to-day along a narrow track
between the cliff, which is here very ahrnpt, and
composed in part of white marble, and a dense
jungle of tamarisks, overgrown and matted together
into huge thickets by brambles and honeysuckles.
This seems to he some miles deep, and is said to be
much frequented by wild beasts. It was just here
that, three years ago, a Bedouin of the name of Bozdn
was killed and eaten by a lion. The lion of the
Euphrates, or Babylonian lion, is not usually a
dangerous beast ; hut every now and then there is
one, which, having accidentally tasted human flesh,
becomes a man eater, just as tigers do in India.
These are much feared by the Arabs ; and, on this
particular occasion, the friends of the man killed
seem to have behaved with great cowardice. They
were Khryssa Arabs, an Anazeh tribe, and were
riding home one evening, in a party of half a dozen,

Bedo^tin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

when they observed a lion following them. Bozan
was the only one of the party with fire-arms, the
rest carrying the usual Anazeh lance ; and he, out
of bravado, fired his pistol at the Hon, who growled
and disappeared ; and the party went on their way,
without hurrying or indeed thinking anything more
of the matter; but, about half an hour later, it
being then nearly dark, the Arabs heard a shriek,
and found that Bozan, who was ridiag last as they’
were going along the narrow track in single file,
was missing. They were frightened, and, without
more ado, galloped away. In the morning however,
they returned to see what had happened, and found
the remains of their companion’s body about fifty
yards inside the jungle. I was rather glad when
we were well out of this disagreeable neighbour-
hood, and in a more open country.

The valley was here again very broad ; and
there were wide grassy plains, interspersed with
tamarisk bushes. In some places there were acres
of land furroAved up, as if with the plough, but in
reality by the Avild boars, Avhich must be very
numerous. Ho Avonder the peasants, in cultivated
countries, dislike them. Here there is nothing to
be injured. The sun Avas getting Ioav, as Ave passed
some ruins, Greek or Eoman, Avhich are marked on
the map as Zenobia’s baths. They are of flat bricks
and concrete, mere bits of ruined Avail, still called el
Hammam (the baths). Hear these we found a camp
of Afiiddli Arabs, a Ioav tribe, but interesting as

CH. VII.] The A ftiddli Lion-Hunters.

having the reputation of being brave men and lion
hunters. Their camp is peculiar and unlike any
other we have seen.

The Afuddli are hardly nomades, as they only
occasionally move their camps, and never leave this
jungly district of the river. They have no sheep
and but few ordinary cows, but keep great herds of
buffaloes, on whose produce they live. The buffalo,
they say, is not afraid of the lion, and so can
inhabit even the thickest parts of the tamarisk
wood, without danger. The herdsmen always go
armed with guns, as well as short spears, and are
said to be good shots. The Afuddli have no tents,
properly speaking, but make themselves huts out
of the tamarisk boughs, laced together while still
growing, and roofed with a bit of tenting. The
camp, near which we now are, is about two himdred
yards inside the jungle, and is reached by lanes, or
passages cut through it, and fenced with a kind of
wattle made by interweaving the branches. These
lanes twist and turn about so as to form a labyrinth,
which it is difficult to get into or out of. The huts
thus become an irregular village, connected by
streets, and in front of each there is generally a
small clearing of half an acre or so. We rode in
just before sunset, pell mell with the cattle, which
were cantering home for the night Avith their tails
in the air. The people Avere hospitably anxious
that Ave should sleep in their huts ; but these Avero
not inviting ; and the open spaces in front of them

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. vn.

were covered with the sharp points of underwood
Avhich had been cleared, and would have made hut
uncomfortable lying; besides, there was not a blade
of grass there for the horses, which are now reduced
to what they can pick up. So Wilfrid decided that,
lions or no lions, we should sleep in the open to-
night. We have chosen our bivouac on a high
bank, where there is grass, and with a deep hollow
between us and the jungle. Wilfrid has taken his
gun and gone for a walk, while Hanna and I have
been very busy getting dinner ready, — and a very
good dinner, I think, it will be.

Mr. S. has quite recovered from his fatigue
now. The Aftiddli have been telling him how they
shoot the lions. Whenever one is heard of, they
try to surround him, taking then* buffaloes with
them, and, if they manage to wound the Hon, these
soon trample him to death. The Turkish Govern-
ment has offered lately a reward of ^63 for every
skin brought into Deyr ; and the people here have
claimed it several times.

Only a fortnight ago they managed to kill two
lions under the following circumstances : A cow
had been found one morning killed and partly
eaten ; and, a man of a neighbouring tribe, the
Subbkha, volunteering to make the attempt, a pit
was dug near the carcase and the man left in it to
watch by night for the lion. He was partly covered
over with tamarisk boughs, and when his friends
came in the morning they found a lion sitting on

CH. VII.]

A Tale of Two Lions.

the top of these, apparently in his turn watching
the man. The Arabs fired, and then rushing in
with them spears managed to kill the beast, and
brought it to the little fort we passed to-day for the
reward. Then, they assure us, during the following
night, while the dead lion was lying in the yard of
the fort, a hideous roaring was heard outside, and
presently a lioness appeared and made an attempt
to get inside. But the door was fast, and, after
firing a great number of shots with no effect, they
at last killed her too.

Both these lions were skinned and stufied and
are now being carried round among the tribes on
a donkey by an enterprising Barnum, who, they
assure us, is making his fortune by the show.

This is of course the Babylonian lion, whose
peculiarity is that he has no mane. He is, I
should think, one of the rarest of beasts.*

Sunday., January 13. — A wet and heavy fog.
Got some good buffalo milk from the Afuddlis, and
were off by eight o’clock. The sun rises now
about half-past seven. Ali Beg, a Circassian, the
new Mudi'r of Palmyra, overtook us this morning.
He is well mounted on a handsome bro'vvn Scglawi
Jedrdn horse, and left Aleppo two days after Ave

* Three of these lions were shot from the English steamer
which plies between Bagdad and Bussora, only three years
since. One of them, when wounded, charged into the water, and
attempted to board the boat. This happened on a part of the
Tigris where there is no jungle.

Bedouin 'Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vir.

did. He is on his way to his post, to which he
is just appointed by his brother-in-law, Kidmyl
Pasha. He gave a heart-rending account of the
night which he passed in an Afriddli hnt. This is
the first bond fide traveller we have seen on the road.

The country was much like that of yesterday
until, after crossing a bit of desert to cut off a
bend of the river, we came in sight of Eakka, the
only inhabited place, since Jabtil. Prom a dis-
tance, we supposed it to be a large town, and
indeed it was so once, but now there are but
half-a-dozen inhabited houses. It stands on the
opposite shore of the river, in Mesopotamia, and
has to be reached by a ferry two miles below
it. We should not have gone across but that
Suliman was anxious to show us a mare there,
which had a great reputation ; and we were a little
curious to see the place nearer. We left our
horses with one of the Zaptiehs, and were ferried
to the opposite shore in an unwieldy boat, some-
thing like a Hoah’s ark cut in two. The Euphrates
is about a quarter of a mile wide at this point ; and
there is a sloping beach on either shore, which
is unusual on the river. I thought I should have
had to walk up to the town ; but Suliman, in the
high-handed way common to Zaptiehs, took posses-
sion of a mare and foal tethered hard by, and
impressed her into our service. Wilfrid walked,
and shot a good many francolins, which abound
here. Mr. S. rode the sergeant’s horse, which

CH. YII.]

Is the Siiltan victoriotcs f

lie had managed to bring over with him in the
boat. There is some cultivation here, and we met
a number of Arabs, men and women, on their way
to the ferry; the former I thought very good-
looking, with regular features and teeth dazzlingly
white. The women, who were driving donkeys
before them loaded with brushwood and looking
at a distance exactly like porcupines, stopped us to
ask news of the war. “ Sultan mansur ” (“Is
the Sultan victorious?”) Sliueya,’’’’ we answered
(“Hot very ”), and they burst into roars of
laughter. The fact is, there is little love lost here
between the Arabs and the Turks. This was
when Suliman was out of hearing, or we should
have said “ inshalldh,” the proper way of turning
an indiscreet question.

Ealdca was a Saracenic town, built, it is said,
by the Caliph Haroun al Eashid as a summer
residence. The walls only of the city are standing,
with two gates, in what we call the Moorish style
of architecture — that is to say, they are built of
brick, ingeniously and fantastically arranged about
a horse-shoe arch.* They are crumbling away at
the base. All ruins seem to perish in this way,
like trees, at the root, I hardly know why.

We were disappointed at finding no houses
within the walls, nothing but a few tents. The
Kaimakam received us with much formality, and

* Zengui, son of Ak Sonkor, assassinated "before Jaber, was
buried at Eakka.

g6 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

the usual cups of coffee, and a narghileh for Mr.
S., who conversed with him in Turkish. He
was a little man, in a loose, wadded smoking-coat
and worked slippers, European trousers and a fez.
He had a fair complexion and rusty heard, un-
trimmed and very dirty. He seemed stupid and,
like all the Tm'ks in this country, supremely
wretched. A little bright-eyed secretary, probably
a Greek, explained to him all he was too slow to
understand; for the talk was of politics and the
war. After this he took us out to see the mare
which had been sent for, a Seglawfeh J edran, own
sister, they told us, to a celebrated horse we had
seen at Aleppo. She was a handsome bay, but
without action ; and hef hocks were badly capped.
We had thought of exchanging the Maneghieh with
the sore back for her ; but the negotiation did not
proceed far. Some other mares were then driven
in from below the town, and came galloping up,
headed by a little wahash, or wild ass, which had
been caught as a foal. It was now a year old, and
seemed tame enough till touched; then it lashed out
furiously. In colour it was ruddy, Avith a broad
dark line down the back. It had short ears, a
drooping hind-quarter, and legs like a deer. The
Haimakam complained of its mischievous disposi-
tion and of a trick it had of biting the tails of the
mares it was with. We asked for news of leddan
and the Anazeh; but nobody could give us any
information, so we wished the official and his

cii. vir.] A Visit to Rakka — The Kaiinakam. 97

friends good-bye, and departed the -vyay we bad
come. Once over the ferry we had a long gallop
to find OUT caravan, wliich had stopped at some
tents on the plain opposite Eakka.

January 14. — Hagar, who is generally “ as good
as gold,” played ns a trick this morning after she
was saddled, by galloping off to some mares, which
were grazing on the plain half a mile from where we
• had camped. It was a brisk morning, and, I sup-
pose, she Avanted to Avarm her limbs, poor thing ;
besides, she had had a good feed of barley over-
night, instead of the usual millet. Suliman and I
set off in pursuit, but she Avonld not let him get
near her, and I had a good deal of cantering about
too before I could persuade her to let me take the
rein. This delayed ns, and Ave made but a short
day’s journey, nothing more remarkable occurring
than a successful stalk of pigeons, Avhich brought
eight to the bag at a double shot. We are of
necessity “pot-hunters,” and Wilfrid has no cart-
ridges to AAmste on fancy shooting. It Avas a deso-
late day’s ride, or else the sameness of the river
scenery is beginning to tell on ns ; and Ave haAm
been glad to stop at the first pleasant spot Ave came
to early in the afternoon. This is a little different
from the camps Ave haA'e chosen or had to choose
lately. The cliffs on the side of the A’allcy hero
gh'o place to green slopes, not unlike doAAms ; and
in the holloAVS of these, a little Avay back from the
rh'er, avc found a camp of Subkha Arabs AA’ith

98 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vh.

their flock of lambs, which never goes far from the
tents, in a circular depression, well sheltered from
the wind and green as a spinach botvl. Here we
have stopped, and laid onr beds out on the slope,
where they look most comfortable. "Wilfrid is ofl,
as usual, to the river and the tamarisk woods, where
he likes to tvander till it is dark. I have asked
him to write a description of one of these woods. It
is as follows : —

“ The tamarisks are about as high as a ten years’
growth of alder copse in England, and stand about
as close together. They are generally open at the
stem, so that you can make your way tlu’ough
them with a little stooping. There are paths, too,
made by the wild boars, which it is easy to follow ;
and the ground is clear of rubbish, so that yon
need make no noise in walking. It is as well, be-
fore plunging in, to take your bearings by sim or
wind, as the jungle is lower than the surrounding
land, marking, in fact, the high water level of the
river in times of flood ; and you cannot often see
more than a few yards before you. The boughs
above are thick with magpies’ nests, the accumula-
tion of years, and their OAvners chatter and scream
at you as you pass. You go forward cautiously,
recollecting the AAnld beast stories the Arabs told
you, and at Arhich you laughed a little Avhile ago.
HoAvthe snapping of a tAvig makes yon look quickly
roimd, half expecting to see the quiet eyes of a lion
glaring at yon tlu’ough the nnderAVOod. But this

€H. vir.J

A Stroll in the Jimgle.

is soon forgotten ; for yon hear birds calling, about
fifty yards in front of yon, apparently from tbe trees.
Tbe fran Colins are just beginning to roost ; and yon
stop, and listen till they call again. A bird seems
close to yon, and yet yon cannot see bim ; and, at
last, be fiutters down from a great tbicket, Avbere
be bad bis percb, and is bidden again before yon
can get yom* grin to your sbonlder. "While you are
looking into the tangled mass of brambles and
honeysuckles around you, out jumps a pig with a
great rush, and you fire 'without seeing bim. It is
just as well to miss, for if yon chance to wound
bim, and he turns, he has yon here at his mercy.
Your shot, however, has probably flushed the fran-
colin, and you get a snap shot at bim as be rises.
Yon wander on and on, still lured by tbe expecta-
tion of something new ; and, following a fairly
straight track, Avell trodden by the feet of pigs,
yon come suddenly on the river flowing silently and
swiftly, a mass of turbid water, some dozen feet
below yon. There you see geese, if there happens
to be a bit of backwater, or maybe a pelican. Yon
are glad, at any rate, to correct your dead reckon-
ing hero by a look at the open sky ; and yon gener-
ally find that you are considerably out. Ihit the
sun has set, and it is time to go home, in as straight
a line as yon can keep. The jackals arc be-
ginning their Avhining chorus ; and far away across
the river you hear a roar. Is it a lion or a camel ?
Most probably the latter. On your way back, you

lOO Bedoum Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

come to an opening cnt by the Arabs for firewood,
and sit doAvn to take breath. A bird flits noise-
lessly past you, and alights on the ground almost at
your feet. It is joined presently by another, and,
for an instant, you think they must be owls. You.
jump to your feet and fire. They are woodcocks^
You wait for another flight, but cannot wait long,
for it is getting dark. You are afraid now of being
benighted, and stumble back through the wood as-
fast as you can, coming now and then upon a jackal
slinking across the path. Yon look with some
anxiety for the w*atch-fire your friends will have-
lighted on some high ground to guide you back.
The moon begms to show, and by its light, just as-
you are at the edge of the wood, you perceive walk-
ing parallel with you, and apparently intent on cut-
ting you off from the open ground, a gaunt, red
beast, moving swiftly through the trees. Your-
heart jumps to your mouth, as it stops with a loud
impatient roar, and you feel that you have been a
fool to stay out so late — only an instant, and it
moves on, and you recognize a belated cow hvury-
ing back to her calf, tied up suice morning in the
camp where you have stopped. So, as romance
■writers say, you ‘ breathe once more,’ and follow
her. Then, in another minute, you are emptying^
your pockets, amid the ‘ mashallahs ’ of Hanna,
Jnrgy, and yoru other friends.”

January 15. — In the middle of the night we Avere
woke by a startling clap of thunder just over our

€H. A'll.]

Thunderstorm at Night.

lor

heads, and by the horses breaking loose and careering
wildly about. Another flash and a clap almost
together sent Hagar right over ns ; and it is lucky
nobody was hurt. Then the rain came down. We
thought that we were in for a regular ducking, but
fortunately it did not last long enough to wet us
tluough, and we slept on again quietly till morning.
We resolved, however, to take this as a warning,
uud to pitch our tents for the future. They will
save ns, at least, from the heavy dews, wliich are
almost as bad as rain.

At daybreak we heard cries and lamentations in
the Subkha camp. A man had died in the night,
and they were taking him to the top of the hill to
buiy him. We asked how old he was. They said

His beard was not yet white.”

This has been a short day’s journey ; a good deal
of time wasted stalking red geese, only one of which
was bagged. While waiting for the bird to bo
blown on shore (for it fell into the river) I saw
three enormous wild boars on the opposite bank, up
Avhich they presently scrambled and disappeared in
the tarfa. About midday we came to some lagoons,
or perhaps inlets from the river, quite covered with
ducks and coots ; and seeing this wo agreed to
halt for the day. We have been very busy putting
up the tents. Ours looks very comfortable Avith its
red lining ; and the prospect of sleeping in it seems
an unheard-of luxury after all these nights spent
out cf doors. It is just as avcII though, for the sky

102

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vh.

is very threatening, and it is very cold, Wilfrid
came back from exploring the lagoons and a penin-
sula beyond tliera, with ducks and woodcocks, and
is so pleased with the place that Ave are to stay here
the Avhole of to-morrow We saw a good-looking
mare to-day hobbled, some way from any tents.
She has probably been left on account of some
defect by the Anazeh, Avhen they went south.
They often do this, it appears, if for any reason
their mares cannot traAml, giving part ownership
in them to some Subkha, Weldi, or other Ioav
Arabs. The neAV OAvner has a right to the first
filly born. This mare was very like an English,
hunter, but AAdth a better head. She may have
been fifteen hands high.

January 16. — A nice quiet day in spite of the high
wind blowing. — Wilfrid out shooting most of the
time. I give his bag : — nine francolins, one duck,
one teal, one pochard, and three wood pigeons. He
also saw a couple of Avolves and an infinite number
of waterfowl, but had more Avalking than shooting.
However, our kitchen is noAV in fine order. Hdnna
has turned out to be a capital cook, and he is very
careful of the provisions given him. Our Aleppo
bread still holds out Avell, and is eatable enough
AAdien toasted. We had it baked hard to start AAuth,
Avdiich is the best plan.

I forgot to say that yesterday Ave passed the
graAms of tAVO Germans, murdered four years ago
on their way up from Bagdad to Aleppo. They

CH. VII.]

Mtirder of Two Germans.

103

had started, we were told, without any baggage, but
were well mounted. The people of Deyr, desirous
to get their mares, followed them when they had
passed through the town and Avaylaid them. I
suppose they made some resistance ; anyhow, here
by the wayside their journey ended, and their
lives.

I woke in the night, hearing a sound of lapping
in the tent, and found a four-footed animal close to
my pilloAV, with its nose in the milk pail. I had
no time to think what it Avas, bnt canght it by the
hind legs and drove it out. Some think it AA^as a
jackal, others a dog.

January 17. — A Avild morning, flights of geese
passing OA^erhead at daybreak, and immense flocks
of rooks and jackdaAvs, Avheeling and clamouring,
as they do in England before a stomi. We AA^ere
half inclined to put off our j oumey again, especially
Avhen rain began to fall ; but the tents Avere soon
doAATi, and Ave started, Avrapped in our thickest
cloaks and overcoats. The road to-day led up the
cliffs, and over a long tract of desert, across AAdiich
the Avind bleAV pitilessly, and presently it began to
snow so thickly that avc could only see a hundred
yards or so in front of us. The Avind Avas fortu-
nately at our back. There Avas no track Ausiblo ;
and it seemed doubtful Avhether any of the party
kncAV the right direction ; but avo came upon a
shepherd Avho put us right, and by degrees tho
storm abated, and before midday tho sun struggled

104 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

out, and then we got do'wn into the valley again,
and halted some minutes under the lee of the
cliffs. However, it was no use stopping, as we
hope to get to Deyr to-morrow ; and we pushed on
all day till near sunset, when we came to a ruined
wall at the edge of a tamarisk wood, where there
were some tents and a flock of kids feeding under
shelter of the wall. We were soon busy making a
fire and warming, at least our fingers, if no more.
I don’t think I ever remember such a piercing
wind, except perhaps when we were snowed up on
the Shdtt el Sherghi in Algeria four years ago.
It was quite dark before the katterjis arrived,
and we were frozen to the bones. How we
have got the tents up and are out of the wind.
There is nothing so snug as a tent in windy
weather, for there are no draughts. It is nearly
full moon, and the sky is clear. The tent is already
frozen stiff. So are my hands.

January 18. — The water in the pail under the
eaves of the tent had an inch of ice on it tliis
morning ; and a rope, wliich had given way during
the night, still stuck out straight and stiff where
it had broken. Hdnna has enlivened the morning
by a little theatrical scene about a piece of cord,
secreted by some of the Arabs who have supplied
us with milk. These are Agheddat, another low
tribe ; and small thefts must, I suppose, be ex-
pected. However, Hamia insisted upon the lost
article being restored, and appealed to Hr. S.

€H. VII.]

A Remarkable Horse.

105

Seeing tliat the matter was becoming serious, the
Aghed^at began to accuse each other, and at
last gave up two men as the culprits, and with
them the lost cord. It was amusing to hear
Haima lecturing these poor thieves on the folly
and wickedness of their conduct ; and to see
him theatrically fastening horse hobbles to their
ancles. Siiliman, more j)ractically inclined, gave
each a sound box on the ear ; and there the
matter ended.

These Agheddat, it appears, have some good
mares, which they get from the Anazeh ; and there
had been some talk over night about an extraordinary
horse of the Maneghi Hedruj breed to be seen
somewhere in the neighbourhood ; so when, shortly
after starting, we met some men who offered to
take us to see this beast, we readily agreed to go with
them. The Maneghi breed, though much esteemed,
is not usually handsome; but this they declared
was an exception. “Maneghi ibnSbeyel”* they
kept on repeating, in a tone of tenderness, and as
if tasting the flavour of each syllable ; for the
reverence of blood here amounts to fanaticism.
AVe turned out of the track, and went for a mile
or so through brushwood, coming at last to an
open space where some w'omcn were rolling xip a
tent they had just pulled down. The “ goodman ”
Avas aAvay, they said, on his horse, gone to borroAV

* Ibn Sbeyel, of the Gomussa, a triboof Scbaa Anazeh, possesses
the most esteemed strain of Mdnegbi Ilednij.

io6 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

donkeys to move his camp Avith to fresh quarters.
A horse of the Maneglii’s nohility could not of
course he used for baggage piuposes. We had
hardly done talking, when Mohammed appeared,
driving half-a-dozen asses in front of him, and
mounted on a meek-looking little black pony, all
mane and tail. This was the celebrated sue of
Avhich we had heard so much ; and I fdel sure that
the jpeople about had a real belief in his good
qualities, and could not understand why we should
find fault, merely on accomit of his looks, with an
animal so nobly bred. We did not stop long, but,
excusing oiu'selves for our lack of enthusiasm by
saying that black was not our lucky colour, we
departed.

We were now determined to reach Deyr to-day,
so, leaving the baggage to follow, and sending
Suliman forward to announce our arrival, we pushed
on. It seemed a long way to our impatience, but
at last from some rising ground we caught sight of
a point on the horizon which we knew must be the
minaret of Deyr. A little later, we met three travel-
lers, merchants of Bagdad, the only wayfarers
except Ali Beg whom we had met Avith in oiu ten
days’ ride, who told us the town was close at hand.
Then, as Ave Avere crossing a little plain, behold a
caA'alcade of horsemen adAmncing towards us, and
in their front, an elegant young gentleman in
European clothes aaEo introduced himself as the
Pasha’s secretary, and delivered a polite message

cii. vir.] Honoti,rs are thrust tipon tis.

107

from liis master entreating ns to honour him with
oiu' company at the Serai, where the oxen and fat-
lings had been killed for us, and all things were
ready. This we were not at all prepared for ; and
we at first hoped that some compromise might
be come to in the way of pitching onr tents in the
Pasha’s neighbourhood; hut the young man was
inexorable, and would hear of nothing less than an
unconditional acceptance. So we consented, and
"Wilfrid, rising to the dignity of the occasion,
assumed all possible gravity in answering the
salute of the fifteen men, who represent the military
force of the Pashalik, di’awn up by the roadside in
onr honour. !N’ext, a deputation of the principal
townsmen, on their best horses, and in fact every-
hody who could get up a four-footed beast, came out
to escort us to the toAvn, forming a cavalcade of
some forty or fifty horsemen. These from time to
time, and instigated by the young man who again
led the way on his sorry nag with his trowsers
much tucked up and showing a pair of neat “ side-
spring boots,” started to perform the fantasia^ the
common form of polite welcome among Turks and
Arabs alike. This I need not describe. Lastty, at
the first house of the town, mounted on a handsome
black mule with trappings and tassels of black and
gold, and attended by half a dozen servants, stood
Ilis Excellency Hiiseyn Pasha waiting in state to
receive us. There was no refusing such noble offers
of entertainment, so wo are now at the Serai, not

io8 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vn.

altogether loath, after all, to exchange onr rough
life out of doors for clean rooms ■with carpets spread,
and, oh luxury ! in an inner chamber the parapher-
nalia of an almost Christian bed ! ”

CHAPTER VIII.

“ This accident may, at least, serve as a warning for us all, to let well alone.’*- ■
Mabia. Edgewoeth.

Huseyn Pasha’s paternal government — The Ottoman policy in^
the Desert — “ Divide et impera” — We are placed under surveil-
lance, and hospitably thwarted in our design of visiting the
iGiazeh — Deyr, the best market for pure Arabian horses —
Pirst talk of the Shammar — Their hero, Abd-ul-Kerim, his
adventures and death — They threaten Deyr — A dishonest
zaptieh— I fall into a well, and am rescued — Wo depart for
Bagdad.

Htjseyn Pasha, Governor of Deyr, is a man of
fifty or tliereabonts, with a dignified exterior, and
decidedly handsome features, in spite of a grizzled
beard and of the inevitable button which afflicts all
faces in these regions. He is an Aleppine by bu’th,
and in sympathy is an Arab rather than a Turk,
being only Ottoman in so far as he represents the
traditional policy of the Empire by paternally mis-
governing his province. I do not say this to his
discredit, for I believe him to be as honest an
official as can be found between Aleppo and Diis-
sora ; but the Turkish Government has never sanc-
tioned any other system of administration in Arabia
than one of opj)ression towards the weak and deceit
towards the strong. This Iliiseyn loyally carries

no Bedoiiin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. vnr.

out. In manner lie has all the courtesy of the Turk
joined to something of the Arab frankness, which
impressed us very favomubly, and made us hesitate
in the final adoption of a title for him wliich more
than once suggested itself to us, that of the faux
honliomme. I am still ashamed to say anything but
what is good of a host so hospitable and a protector
so lavish of kmd protestations as was this amiable
muteslierif ; and, if it were possible to dissociate his
early reception of us from the tiresome insincerity
of his subsequent behaviour, I should say that he
Avas one of the best and kindest friends we met ivith
on our travels. A disagreeable suspicion, however,
recurs, as I ivrite, that from the first his hospitality
was not altogether without motiA^e. I sometimes
fancy that, even before our arriAml at Deyr, he must
have had notice of the object of our journey, and
received a hint to throAV pleasant obstacles in our
Avay, and that, being a shreAvd man, as Orientals
are shreAvd, he had resolved on a little plan of
action which should load us Avith civilities and
polite attentions from the outset, and conduct us in
the end AAuth all honour and dispatch to the nearest
pouit of his frontier. K’or is this improbable.

The Turkish Giovernment has ahvays been very
jealous of foreign intrigues among the Bedouin
tribes, Avhom it is their policy to keep as children
in ignorance of all that passes in the outer world.
It has equally been their policy to soav dissensions
among them ; and, as I haA'e already described, by

CH. VIII.]

Pate^mal Govermne^it.

1 1 r

good fortune or good management, tlie most
dangerous tribes were tbis Avinter hotly engaged
in ciyil war. It would be a pity, the authorities
doubtless thought, that so satisfactory a state of
things should be interfered with by mere busy-
bodies from Europe, who might possibly inform
the Bedouins of the ill turn things had taken for
the Sultan in Bulgaria, and of the denuded state
of the garrison to’svns and military roads of Syria.
“ Divide and rule ” was an excellent motto ; and
Etu’opeans had before now attempted to unite the
tribes against Ottoman rnle, or patch up peaces
between them ont of foolish humanitarian motives.
Moreover, any day might bring the news of a crisis
in the affairs of the Empire ; and England was
laiOAvn to have her eye on the Enpln-ates. What
then more likely than that ours should be a semi-
official mission, to spy out the nakedness of the
land ? A British Consul Avould hardly have come
so far from his post without political motive ; and
Mr. S. was with us. Hiiseyn, Avise in his gene-
ration, may Avell haA^e argued in this Avay. Only
he Avould liaAm been Aviser still if he could haA'c
guessed that honesty in dealing Avith us Avould
be the best policy, and that, by sending ns under
pledge of silence to the Arabs, he Avoidd have
gained all his object. The details of his plan, if
plan there Avas, Avcrc ably carried out. Ilis hos-
pitality Avas absolute and complete, as that of any
desert Sheykh. lie Avould alloAV no Avord or

1 12 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vm.

suggestion of our occupying any other house but
his O'wn, or of our pitching tents and living outside
the towm. “That would do him too great dis-
honour.” He had ah’eady abandoned his ovti
apartment to us, and had hu-ed a room for himself
elsewhere. We should stay a week, ten days, a
month, the whole winter, with him, and he should
still be less than satisfied. He was our servant
and valdl (agent) in all that we might require at
Deyr, whether horses, if we wished to buy them,
or mules and provisions for the road, when the
time should come. But of this he would not speak.
A feast was ready for us indoors, and the wind was
blowing furiously down the street. Even Wilfrid
allowed that oru' vow of spending the whole winter
ont of doors must be broken here. “At> liatj
rimcdioi'’ We consented, and were at once installed
in onr honourable captivity. Once within the walls
of the Serai, Ave Avere of course under our host’s
eye, and nobody could come in or go out AAuthout
Ins sanction. It would be difficult for us to com-
municate Avith the toAATLspeople of Deyr, except
tlu’ongh the Pasha’s seiwants; and no agent of
Jcddan’s AA^as likely to A^enture inside His Excel-
lency’s coiu’tyard to gHe us information. Mr. S.,
fatigued AAuth the joinney, Avould be only too
Avilling to stay quietly indoors ; and aa'c Avere
strange to the Avays and language of the place, and
could not go about alone asking questions in the
bazaar. All information, then, could be cooked for

€ir. VI ir.]

Htlseyn Pasha’s Advice.

1 1

us, before being served up, and we were practically
lielpless. That this was the case we afterwards
had ample proof. All the Sheykhs of importance
have spies and correspondents in the town, Avho,
if we had been encamped outside the town, would
at once have come to us, hearing the report of our
intended journey; but Huseyn, as we discovered
later, gave orders to have strange Arabs carefully
“ consignes ” at his door. It was impossible to get
anyone to speak on the subject of Jeddan.

Husejui himself was an agreeable talker, but
conversed more readily with Mr. S. in Turkish, the
■official language, (no employe., were he from I^ejd,
would speak Arabic) than in Arabic on the subject
of mu* visit to the Anazeh. He could not recom-
mend onr even attempting it in the present state of
things. "War, as we knew, was raging in the Syrian
desert, wliich was infested 'with gJiazus, or marauding
parties, of forty or fifty men each, over wdiom Jedaan
himself had no control. From these the Pasha
could of course give us no security. It was all
he could do to preserve his communications with
Pagdad. Moreover, Jeddan’s position was exceed-
ingly precarious. He had beaten the Eoala ; but
these had gone to the Jof to get help from Ibn
Pashid, who might any day appear in the Hamdd.
The Shdmmar of Mesopotamia were in arms, and
sure to attack him as soon as they saw their
opportunity ; and lastly, there was a split among
the Sebaa themselves. Pcsidcs all this, it was too

VOL. I.

I ] 4 Bcdotiin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. -viir..

late. Jeddan was gone from Bishari, “and who'
Imows where the Bedouins are, when once they
move ? ” They were probably by this time far away
south pursuing the Eoala. "We should do better
to stay quietly at Deyr with him, the Pasha, for a
month, when the Anazeh would be coming north
again, dming all which time he would be oiu’ soli-
citous and grateful host. Then, when the tribes-
had renewed their rayamdn with the Government
(an annual convention for trading purposes), he
would, inshallah, take us himself to Jedaan. “ In-
shallah” was all we could answer, thanking the
Pasha for his kindness.

In the meauAvhile, we Avere treated AAuth almost
royal honours. A guard of honour had orders to
attend us AA^erever Ave should go, on foot or on
horseback, outside the gates of the Serai ; and the
inhabitants of the toAAui, little inclined as Arabs
are to shoAV respect to j)ersons, Avere constrained to
stand up as Ave passed in the streets, a rather tire-
some piece of ceremony to us, who Avould rather have
made friends Avith them. "We felt inclined to say,
en hons princes — “Thank you, good people, for
your loyalty, but do sit doAvn.”

Our first day AVas doA^oted to receiving deputa-
tions, alAA^ays hoAA'ever in presence of oiu’ host.
First there Avere the toAAm councillors, grave elderly
Arabs in Bedouin dress (for here the Syrian tunic
and turban are unknoAvm), aaEo came in barefooted,
and sat uncomfortably on the edges of the Pasha’s

CH. viii.j Greatness is thrtist upon tis. 115

cliairs, or on tlie ground, according to their rank on
the “local hoard.” From these no information
could he had, except that Jedaan was “ hey id ^
heyid^ andi el Hamad'''’ (far, far away in the desert).
Then there were Christians, of whom there is a popu-
lation of about a hundred at Deyr, headed by their
priest, a long-nosed Chaldean from Mdsnl, who
were more familiar and more talkative. These alt
had grievances. They had come from their homes
at Aleppo or Mosul to make money, and had not
made enough. They sought our protection for the
recoA’ery of had debts. Then there was the army,
represented by a lieutenant ; and a man who had
farmed the taxes of last year, and could not get his
aiTears paid on account of the war; and women,
— bnt here onr patience was exhausted, and we
begged that the rest might come another day.

In the afternoon we rode a little way from the
toAvn to exercise the horses, who seemed to he as
much in want of fresh air as we were ourselves.
My horse had broken out into a sort of rash caused
by the hot stable, and Ilagar seemed to have caught
a cold. W c went towards the hills, which are hero
about a mile back from the river, and got what
view was to be had of the to'wn. Deyr is built of
mud and, like most of the villages on the upper
Euphrates Avhich we afterwards saAV, stands in a
dreary Avildernoss. The river, picturesque as it
generally is, Avith its Avild tamarisk Avoods and
glades of grass, is bare and hideous Avherever the

ii6 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vm.

Arabs have made a permanent settlement. The
sites also are usnally the least interesting, being
chosen for some agricultural advantage, an island,
or a low alluvial tract near enough to the river level
to be easily irrigated. The ancient cities, as we
see by their remains, were, on the contrary, perched
on commanding positions on the clifi ; and this pro-
bably represents a difference hi circumstances be-
tween the past and present divellers in the valley.
Formerly, as I imagine, the towns defied the
Bedouins of the desert round them ; now they pay
them tribute and live on sufferance. This was
certainly true till a few years back. The conse-
quence is, the villages lie undefended and without
regard to strategical position. They seem to
depend on their poverty for protection. Deyr is
especially uninteresting. Even the river loses its
dignity there, being in fact but a narrow branch,
the main channel passing on the other side of a low
flat island, made hideous by rude attempts at culti-
vation. All is bare for miles round, except where
the ground is broken by patches of ill-ploughed, ill-
sown, ill- watered fields of barley. Nature may be
hard-featured in the desert, but here it has been
made repulsive, as a plain face is by painting. The
town itself stands on a little eminence, its omi
ruins ; for there is evidence of its antiquity in the
mounds and traces of canals which extend behind
it, while the wilderness of graves around is that of
a large city.

CH.

Deyr as a Horse Market.

117

Deyr has been further disfigured by the ein-
bellishmeuts of an enterprising Pasha, who gave
it, some few years ago, a grotesque imitation of
a Eiu’opean faubourg. That is to say, a broad
straight road was traced, with a barrack, a “ public
garden ” enclosed with an iron railing, and half-a-
dozen hoiises Avith a second story. The principal of
these is the Serai. Outside the towoi, among the
graA'es, if the evening is fine, Avomen AAmlk or sit ;
boys throAV stones, or play at rounders and hockey,
AAdiile young men ride about cantering in eights, to
break in the colts they have bought from the
Anazeh, and teach them to change their leg easily.
This is the only cheerful sight.

Dejn* is Avell knoAAOi as a horse market, and is
perhaps the only toAAm north of Jebel Shammar
AAdiere the inhabitants have any general knoAvledge
of the blood and breeding of the beasts they
possess. The toAvnsmen indeed are but a single
step removed from the Pedouins, their undoubted
ancestors, and haA'e presoiwed all the inejudices
and beliefs common to the desert tribes almost
untouched. They usually purchase their colts as
yearlings, either from the Gomnssa or some other
of the Sebtia tribes, and, haAung broken them
thoroughly, sell them at three years old to the
Aleppo merchants. They occasionally too haA'c
mares left AA'ith them in partnership by the Anazeh ;
and from these they breed according to the strictest
desert rules. It is therefore, for a stranger, by

1 1 8 Bedoidn Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. vm.

far the best market for thoroughbreds in Asia; and
yon may see some of the best blood at Deyr that
can be found anywhere, besides having a guarantee
of its authenticity, impossible under ordinary cir-
cumstances at Damascus or Aleppo. There are, I
may say, no horses at Deyr but thoroughbreds. We
made several purchases, a chestnut mare, Saadeh
Togan, well-known, as we afterwards found, in all
the desert round as one of the handsomest and
best but thought to be barren ; a tlmee year old bay
filly, Maneghieh Slaji, which beat Ilagar over a half
mile, and a pony mare, also Maneghieh, for which
we exchanged the horse I had been riding, as it was
thought more convenient that we should have only
mares upon our journey. All these at very mode-
rate prices, thanks to the penniless state of the
country, the scarcity of purchasers, and our friend
Iliiseyn’s kind authority. Suliman, the Turkish
zaptieh, negotiated the purchase of the first, which
gives too good a trait of mamiers to be omitted.
The mare belonged to a liojja., or learned man of
the town, who had had. her some years, but could
not ride her on account of her high spirits ; and who,
finding that she had failed the last two years to
produce a foal, was anxious to sell her.‘“' Suliman,
Avithout letting him knoiv the name of the purchaser,
agreed with him on a price ; the money named Avas
piaid, and he Avas sent to hand it OA^er to the OAAUier.

Dut the Turk could not find it in his heart to

* This is almost always a reason for selling.

*CH. VIII. J

Saliman zs Dishonest.

119

let liim have all the money, and kept hack five
pounds. The hojja complained, and came to ns
for the mare, saying he would have her back ;
whereupon it was discovered that another fraud of
ten pounds had been committed on ourselves, the
man having, in fact, received fifteen pounds less
than the sum we had given to Suliman. This
tale is typical, not only of the dishonesty, but
.still more of the stupidity of the ordinary zaptieh„
If Siiliman could have been content with cheating
us, nothing would have ever come to light about
it ; but his greediness spoilt all. The Pasha was
very grave when he heard what had happened,
saying that it brought disgrace upon his house ;
and he made the sergeant refund the money.
Suliman did this reluctantly, pleading that he had
a wife and children to support. Wilfrid would
have given the ten pounds to the poor man who
had been cheated, but Huseyn begged that the
matter might drop there. The man had had his
money. So we were fain to be content, and eveax
to forgive Suliman, who came next day Avitli ashes
on his head and a face of repentance. I am sorry
we did so, as he afterwards proved quite unworthy.
Dishonesty in money matters is not confined to
Turkey, I fear ; but less shame is attached to
being found out there than with us. We after-
wards discovered that the miserable sergeant had
not only made this large coup about the mare, bxit
liad kept most of the small sums, mej idles and

1 20 Bedoum Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. vm.

besliliks, ■wliich we had entrusted to him during
our journey from Aleppo, as payment for milk and
bread, in the places where we had stopped.

Hiiseyn had several horses and mares in his
stables which he was proud to show us ; but,
except on such occasions, they never left their
mangers, as he is a timid rider, and afraid to trust
others on their backs. Among the rest, he had a
fine Hamdani Simri, badly broken-laieed ; but
broken knees are a defect no one here considers of
consequence. I suppose the horses who have them
are thrown dovm as colts ; for, when full grovm,
no Arabian ever falls, however careless he may be
about tripping. During all our travels we never
saw an accident of this sort. hTow I retium to my
journal.

Sundap, January 20. — K’ew plans. The Pasha
assures us that it is quite out of the question our
going to the Anazeh at present, and proposes-
instead that, as we are unwilling to stay longer
than need be at Deyr, we should pay a visit to tlm
Shammar in Mesopotamia. We are loath to
abandon our original plan; but the main feature
of it, the visit to Jebel Shammar, is at any rate
impossible this year ; for, whatever else is doubt-
ful, it seems certain that Jechian cannot now go
nearly so far south. Indeed we are beginning to
think that the tale of the Anazeh going there at all
is untrue. Por myself, I am quite as ready for the
new plan, thinking that we should be doing a

CH. yiii.]

Shaniinar Politics.

121

foolish thing to entangle oni’selves just now in the
Anazeh disputes.

The Pasha has explained to ns the political
position of the Mesopotamian Shaminar. They
are a large and powerful tribe, indeed the only
fighting tribe east of the Euphrates; and have
been the rivals and enemies of the Anazeh ever
since they first came into the country. Their
Sheykh is Ferhan ibn Sfuk, in whose family the
dignity of chief is hereditary. Fie is on good
terms with the government, and has lately been
made a Pasha, Avith an allowance from the Pashalik
of Bagdad of about £3000 a year. In considera-
tion of this, he has engaged to keep his people
quiet and, if possible, to induce them to settle
doAvm as cultivators in the valley of the Tigris,
giving the example himself by living at Sherghat,
a place about sixty miles south of Mosul. Huseyn
lioweA-er thinks that there is more shoAV than
reality in the arrangement, as far as Ferhan is
concerned. It is certain that the Shammar are
not at all pleased Avith the Sheykh’ s submission.
They look upon him Avith some contempt even, as
he is the son of a Bagdad Avoman, and talks
Turkish, Avhieh he learned at Constantinople many
years ago, Avhen he Avas hostage there. The more
independent members of the tribe seceded long ago
from Ferhan, and put themselves under his half
brother Abd ul Kerim, about Avhom avc have already
heard many stories.

122 Beaouin, Iribes of the Etiphrates. [cn. vm.

As Abd ul Kerim is a great liero in recent
Bedonin Instoiy, I may as "well put doATO here all we
afterwards learned of him. His mother Avas of the
Ta'i, a tribe held to be most noble by the Bedouins,
though tributary to the Shaniinar; and on this
account he AA^as preferred by his people to Ferhan.
He led them in all their AA^ars ; and, as long as he
lived, his elder brother had no authority out of
Bagdad. He appears to have been of that chival-
rous type so much admired by the Bedouins, open-
handed, generous and braA'e. He neA'er Avould make
j)eace AAuth the Turks, and they often suffered
severely at his hands. He and Jedaan had knoAAm
each other as children, being of the same age, and
Jedaan had been sent during one of them truces
(for the Shammar and Fedtian are ahvays enemies)
to stay some months, as a sort of pledge of peace,
in the tent of Abd ul Kerim’s father Sfuk. Abd
ul K^rim had indeed been a sort of patron of
Jedaan’ s in early life, haAung gwen him money
and camels, and set him up, more than once, Avhen
Jedaan had got into difficulties ; but afterwards
the hereditary hostility of their tribes made them
enemies. Jedaan, from haAuug been a poor man
of no particular account among his people, rose,
through his skill and braA’ery, to be leader of the
Fedaan, and then of the AA'hole Anazeh clan ; and
consequently, he and Abd ul Kerim Avere at con-
stant rivalry and AA^ar. On one occasion, Jedaan
Avith fifty folloAvers AAms surprised and surrounded

cir. VIII.]

Add td Kdrim’s Mare.

123

■at nightfall by a large body of Shammar, Avho, as
the custom is in the desert, waited till daylight to
make their attack. The Fedaan had little chance of
escape, and were resigning themselves to capture
and spoliation in the morning, for their mares Avere
tired and the enemy was fresh, Avhen, in the
middle of the night, a man came to them from the
Shammar Avith a message to Jedaan from Abd nl
K4rim. He AA'as riding a AAdiite mare ; and the
message was to the following effect : Abd nl

Iverim, in token of their ancient friendship, sends
his OAATi mare to Jedaan, begging that he Avill ride
her to-morroAV. She is the best in all the Shammar
camp,” Thus mounted, Jedaan fought his losing
battle the next day, but escaped capture, thanks to
Abd ul Kerim’s mare, his men being all taken
prisoners. The story takes us back to the days of
Saladin.

Abd ul Kerim AA^as a proud man, and took eA^ery
opportunity of insulting and annoying the Turks,
sending the Valy of Bagdad back Avithout receiA’ing
him, one day AAdien he came out to Ausit him. He
AA'as therefore looked upon as a mere outlaw at
Bagdad. To this he OAA’cd his death. The circum-
stances, as I heard them related, Avcre as folloAvs :

Abd ul Kch-im Avas in loA'e Avith a cousin of his
OAAui, a daughter of his mother’s brother, and conse-
quently a Tai, aaJio Avas equally attached to him ;

* The Tai women are reputed tlie most beautiful of any in tho
Desert,

124 Bedotdn Tribes of the Etiphratcs. [cu. vm.

and lie had intended to many lier ; bnt, for some
reason not explained, she was given by her father
to another snitor. The girl sent a message to Abd
nl K^rim, telling him what had happened, and beg-
ging him to take her away from her new husband.
This the lover made haste to do, arriviag with all
possible speed, and followed by twenty horsemen.
But the plot was discovered; and, when Abd ul
Kerim anived, he found the husband there with Ms
friends, who, drawing his sword, cut the girl in pieces
before Ms eyes, calling out to him, “You wanted
her. Look, she is yours to take or to leave.” What
happened at that moment I do not know ; but Abd
ul Kerim seems to have gone crazy for a wMle, and
to have roamed about the country for several days
destroying everyone he met. They say (but this of
coiu’se is an exaggeration) that he sacked forty vil-
lages. On this the governor of Mosul sent out a
large army to attack him, and he was chiven south
across the EupMates, into the Mdnteflk country,
where he took refuge with Kassr, the Montetik
Sheykh, who, being on good terms with the Govern-
ment, sent him prisoner to Bagdad. He was for-
warded thence to Mosul, Avhere the Pasha hanged
him publicly on the bridge, like a common felon.
The news of Abd xd Kerim’s death spread conster-
nation through Mesopotamia ; and, for a time, the
independent Shammar seemed permanently broken ;
and, there being no other of the Sfiik family old
enough to be their leader, Ferhan regamed his

€11.

We first hear of Farts.

125

credit, and was once more acknowledged Slieykli of
the whole tribe. Meanwhile the Tai Avoinan, Ahd
id Kdrim’s mother, a person of great dignity and
influence, fled with her youngest son Faris and
the rest of her belongings, into FTejd, Avhere they
remained tAVO years or more. I!^oaa', hoAA^ever, they
liaA'e returned, and Faris is gradually resuming
his brother’s position, all the more Avarlike of
the Shammar liaYing jomed him. But of this
later.

Faris, it appears, is a young man of high
spirit and of great personal attractions, “a great
schemer,” the Pasha says, and has succeeded in
getting together a large number of folloAA^ers avIio
live independently of Ferhan and of all other con-
trol, in the northern half of Mesopotamia. He
Avould be an interesting person to see, especially
as he has probably iieA^er spoken to a European
in his life. The Pasha thinks he might send a
message to him proposing a Ausit. That Avould
be much better than going to Jedaan, and I
think it probable Ave shall do it. Otheiwise
there seems nothing possible but to go to Bagdad.
The difficulty is to get started AAuth the tribes, as
Avithout help or introduction of some sort, it is im-
possible to go to them. "WhateATr Ave do had
better bo done quickly, as 'VYilfrid is fretting at
this life indoors.

Janiiarij 21. — A noAV complication has arisen,
and I really begin to suspect that the I’asha docs

126 Bedouin Bribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. vm..

not intend ns to go anywhere but back to Aleppo..
A man came in this morning with news that a band
of Shammar have made a pounce on the Buggara, a
small pastoral tribe occupying the left bank of the-
Euphrates, just opposite Deyr, and have carried oft
eighteen mares and five thousand sheep. It sounds,
rather like an excuse for putting ofi our new expedi-
tion ; but the Pasha appears really frightened. He-
talks of Deyr being sacked, as indeed it might be any
day by the smallest tribe in the country, and has-
sent off a messenger to Aleppo threatening to resign
his post if not speedily supjjorted by troops. He-
has got just fifteen men here, including Suliman
and the others who came with us, and, though he
has plenty of arms and ammunition, he cannot get
any of the townspeople to come forward and help in
the defence. He has sent a message to the tovm
council ofiering arms to all Avho will enroll them-
selves ; but the councillors have prudently sent ne
answer. I suppose they are not so frightened as the-
Pasha. Wilfrid suggests ditches being dug across-
the ends of the streets, or still better, that negotia-
tions be entered into at once with Paris, who is only
fifty or sixty miles off. It appears that it was not
his men who took the Buggara sheep, but people-
from the south under Mijuel, one of Ferhan’s sons,
who are on bad terms Avith Paris; and Mr. S.
thiuks that Paris might be induced to help the-
Government agahist his ncjfiiCAA", if properly ap-
plied to.

CH. Ylll.]

Bedei' Agu wants his Pay.

i2y

January 22, — Another story of marauders,
Mfjuel, according to report, came yesterday and
claimed tribute from some tents close to Deyr.
Each tent had to gAe a carpet, a sheep, or a sack
of barley. The Pasha is more than ever frightened
and perplexed. Wilfrid suggests that we should go
on a mission to Paris ; hut this Hiiseyn will not hear
of, without first sending a messenger. He sent for
Beder Aga, the captain of the zaptiehs, and told him,
in our presence, to get ready for a long ride, and then
VTote a letter to the effect that, “ if Paris wished to
gain favour in the eyes of the Government, now was
his time. Deyr was just now without troops ; but
some were expected, and, in the meantime, Paris
would do well to keep the country quiet ; he would
be paid for it, and would earn the Pasha’s grati-
tude.” A postscript was added, so Hiiseyn assured
ns, informing Paris of our desire to make his ac-
quaintance and intention of paying him a visit,
Beder Aga took the letter, and then sat down, as
if awaiting orders. “You understand,” Hiiseyn
said, “you are to take it to Paris.” “Yes,
Etfendi.” “And you are to go at once.” “Yes,
Effendi.” “ How directly.” “ Yes, Effendi.”
“Then why don’t you go?” — Beder Aga made
no answer, hut held out his right hand, moi'ing the
thumb and fingers suggestively, as if counting
money. The Pasha was silent. “ How am I to
go ?” says Beder Aga. “Why, on horseback, to
be .sure,” says Ilis Excellency, “And my ivifo

128 Bedouin Tribes of tJte Euphrates, [ch. vm.

and cliildren, are they to go too ? ” “Of course
not.” “ They must have something to eat then.
Give me a month’s pay of my arrears, and a month
for each of my men.” Hiiseyn seemed embarrassed,
“l^onsense,” he said, “what do yon want Avith so
much ? Take a week’s pay.” The captain saluted
and went out in silence.

Wilfrid has been shooting to-day on a small
island, and came home Avith a dozen francolins. He
saw several boars.

January 23. — I haA^e just had a wonderful escape.
We were all riding quietly doAAm the high street
of Deyr this morning with tAVO zaptiehs fol-
loAving ; AAdien, AAnthout the slightest Avarning, and
in vieAV of everyone, I disappeared, mare and all,
into the ground. It was like the stories of people
being SAAmlloAved up in earthquakes. I had no time
to think or to call out. Doavii Ave Avent AAitli the
soil from the street above pattering on my head, as
it seemed to me, into the boAvels of the earth. It
Avas a Avell which Omar Pasha, in his modern im-
provement of widening the street, had lightly
bridged over AAdth planks, and left, a pitfall for the
unAA^aiy. The planks had rotted aAvay and we fell
through. Portunately the well Avas not deep, and
the recent rains had filled it Avdth mud. With my
arms stretched up, I could just reach the hands
which were stretched doAATi to me from aboA^e, and
AAms out in an instant. With the mare it Avas a
more difficult matter. Poor beast, she Avas AA^edged

CH. VIII.]

Adventure in a Well.

129

so tight that she could not even struggle, and had
to vait there an horu’ or more before she could be
dug out. A sloping way was made to the bottom
of the well, and then ropes were passed round her,
and she was dragged up the incline by main force.
"When initied, she jumped to her feet and neighed,
having till then made no attempt at struggling. A
human being could not have shown greater sense.
In the midst of onr anxieties, the good Pasha
arrived, shaking his head ruefully with an expres-
sion of being dreadfully shocked at such an accident
having occurred under his jurisdiction. “ Wah.,
tv ah., tv ah P'’ he repeated, holding up his hands “ Oh
dear, oh dear, oh dear ! ”

The Pasha’s house is certainly very well ordered.
He has a capital butler and a caj)ital cook, and all his
other servants are attentive and polite. The stable
is liberally provided Avith all that horses can Avant,
and our mares are getting fat and frisky. "We
keep them out of doors, in spite of the cold Aveather,
snoAV and rain, much to the horror of the head-
groom ; but they certainly do better so AAdien Avell
clothed, and ours haA’e three blankets, the outer
one reaching to the heels. In travelling it does
not do to let beasts sleep out of doors one night
and in the next. The open air is ahvays best for
them ; but they ought, except in A'ery hot Aveathcr,
to be thickly clothed. Want of sleep at night
makes horses thin sooner than Avant of food. Be-
sides the blankets, our mares have coats of their

VOL. I.

130 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. \'iir.

own a good inch long, and we never clean or dress
them in any way. They look rough, but they keep
in health.

January 24. — Beder Aga has not returned, if
he ever went, nor has the Pasha alluded in any
way to his message to Paris. I think the whole
thing was, perhaps, a mystification, to turn our
attention from Jedaan and the Anazeh ; or he may
have repented when he saw that we took the
proposal seriously. Now he only talks of our
going on to Bagdad, and even Mr. S. thinks
this will be best. He cannot himself go further
with us, as his consular district ends here. It
seems an “impotent conclusion” to our vast ambi-
tions ; but we console ourselves, as the French did
after the battle of Worth. Nous reculons pour
mieux sauteri’’ The Pasha thinks of nothing but
the possible sack of Deyr and his own forlorn
position far away from house and home. He has
none of his family with him here, and is a true
Aleppine in his horror of the desert and fear of
danger. “ Why, why did I leave my home ? ” is
the burden of his complaint. “ What false ambi-
tion lured me, what love of the name of Pasha ?
Woe worth the day, woe worth the hour when I
turned my face from Aleppo and came out to die
in this wilderness.” We know not how to comfort
him, our hearts being all in the desert and not at
all in the tovm. He talks of packing up and going,
if not speedily relieved from anxiety by the arrival

cir. VIII.] We Resolve to go to Bagdad. 1 3 1

of troops. We and our affairs are quite forgotten
in this deeper grief.

January 25. — A caravan, escorted by some
soldiers, has arrived from Aleppo. It will go on
to-morrow for Bagdad, and we, in despair of any-
thing better, have agreed to travel mth it. We
cannot stay all the winter at Deyr, — it is too
terribly dull; — and we may as well occupy the
time, between this and the return of the Anazeh
northwards, in seeing the lower portion of the
river and the city of the Caliphs. Mr. S. will at
the same time retium to Aleppo, promising to meet
ns here again the first week in March, and this
time really take us to Jedaan. We are to try in
the meanwhile to get to our friends, the Shammar,
tlu’ough Colonel Ifixon’s help at Bagdad. The
Pasha there must have troops to send with us, if he
likes to do so. It seems a roundabout way to go
to work through Bagdad, which is three hundred
miles away from the direction we wish to take ; but
I have some confidence that, when thrown entirely
on our oum resources, we shall manage better than
now when we are under tutelage. Wilfrid, of
course, has hitherto left all arrangements to the
Consul, who knows the country, which he does
not ; but, when shifting for ourselves, we have
never yet been prevented from going where wo
had a mind to. So we hope for the best.

Noav that it is settled we are to go to Bagdad,
the Pasha is most energetic in hastening our pro-

132 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [oh. vin.

parations of departure. "We have hired two mules
for the baggage and a pony for Hanna, paying a
thousand piastres, £8, for the whole journey, half
in advance. "We wordd gladly buy beasts instead
of hiring, and be independent ; but we promise our-
selves that luxury at Bagdad. There we shall get
camels and go where we like and do what we like.
The great thing now is to escape from Deyr, where
we feel as in a prison.

A colonel of regulars, with twenty men, mounted
on mules, has arrived from Tudmor to reinforce the
garrison here ; so Hiiseyn Pasha is happier again.
He will also be able to send three or four men with
the caravan, which starts to-morrow morning. "We
are leaving our heavier luggage here, many of the
things required for our expedition to the Jebel
Shammar being now unnecessary. Mr. S.’s tent
too will stop here, and our own things go into two
large bags we had made in England for the purpose,
— ^just a mule load, — the tents and provisions on the
second mule, and Hanna on the pony. He, Hanna,
is very doleful and out of heart at the prospect of
going on with us alone, and he has an attack of
fever ; but we must get on as we can. Siiliman
begs to be taken on ; and, having forgiven him, we
have not been able to refuse. I fear he is a bad
man ; but at least we knoAv him.

January 26. — A false start. The katterjis, in-
stead of coming at eight o’clock, came at twelve,
and then only brought one mule. Wilfrid insisted

cn. Tin.] Delays and Disappointments.

133

upon tlie other two animals being produced, and had
the baggage taken down into the yard. A deputa-
tion from the caravan waited on us, begging us to
put off going till to-morrow ; but Wilfrid had the
luggage loaded, and then only yielded to the
entreaties of our amiable host. Indeed it was too
late to start at two o’clock now, in the winter ; bnt,
without some show of determination, one might be
pnt off from day to day for a week, before getting
aAvay. This has occupied us the whole day; and
now I am too busy to write more. I feel as if I
should never wish to see Deyr agam. Yet we are
to be here again in six weeks — inslialldh I

CHAPTER IX.

“ While you and I, within our cots,

Are comfortably lying,

My eye ! what tiles and chimney pots
About their heads are flying.”

Sea Song.

A fresli start — We join a caravan bound for Bagdad — The son of
a borse — Turkish ladies on a journey — How to tether a fidgetty
horse — Salahiyeh — An encampment of Agheyl — The Mudir of
Abukamal — Wolves at night — Wild boars and others — The
Boatswain’s log — Palm groves — ^^^e arrive at Ana,

January 27. — We have left Deyr, and are once
more comfortably housed, thank Grod, under onr
OAvn tent roof ! It has, all the same, been rather a
trying day, though the sun was out, and we had
our faces to the south. Mr. S. has left us, and we
are at last thro'wn upon our o'wn resources. We
feel now for the first time the miserable deficiency of
our Arabic; and already Sfiliman, relieved from
the control of Consular authority, shocks us by the
lightness with which he bears his disgrace. He
has assumed a patronising, half contemptuous tone,
which makes us look forward to a long journey in
his company with anything but pleasure. Even
Hanna, the precious Hanna, looks very green and
gloomy, complaining of a swimming in his head,
the effect of twenty grains of quinine he took this

CH. IX.]

We join a Caravan.

135

morning. At any moment, we are afraid, he may
break do'vvn.

The caravan with which we are travelling, consists
of some thu’ty mnles and horses laden with square
hales of cotton goods, probably from Manchester,
and half a score of katterjis dressed in gay Syrian
tunics of red and gold, partly on foot, partly
mounted on diminutive asses, wliich they use as
a sort of extra set of legs, their own touching the
ground as well, the whole led by a jaunty pony with
bells on Iris neck, whose evidently superior breeding
carries him in front under a load which might crush
two animals of meaner spirit. We could see at once
by his face that he was born for better things, and
the poor little beast seems to feel it too, for every
time we pass the caraA'an he makes prodigious
efforts to join us, moAung thereby the Avrath of his
masters, Avho decline to haA'e the caravan put out of
its pace for any one’s whim. “A pretty beast ” we
remarked, the first time Ave Avent by. “ Praised be
God ! ” ansAvered the man, completing our sentence,
which to conciliate ill luck should by rights have
ended so, “ his father AA^as a horse.” “ Ibn hosan ”
“ the son of a horse ” is a term used Avhen the dam
is less than thoroughbred, and though comj)limentary
enough to a baggage pony, is an insulting expres-
sion Avhen used about an animal of more pretension.
A little apart from the rest of the caraA'an, and form-
ing a conspicuous feature, there is a tall mide carry-
ing an immense pair of hooded jianniers, led by a

136 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cit. ix.

countryman in breeches open at the knee, gaiters, a
red sash, a jacket, and a handkerchief twisted round
his head, who might very well pass in Andalusia for
a native arriero with his hat off, for the costume is
the same. He would be called there an “ hombre de
confianza,” for he is in charge of two Turkish ladies
who sit in the panniers. They are the wife and
mother-in-law of a major of regulars at Bagdad, and
have undertaken this very serious journey, I am
sure, without the least suspicion of what they were
doing ; for it is impossible to suppose that any
amount of devotion to the major, could have faced
the thought of a four weeks’ journey, penned up in
this way like fowls in a coop, and looking out from
a pannier, lurching all day long like a ship at sea on
a world darkened by a thick cotton veil. Or why
do people say that there are no real domestic ties
among Mahometans ?

There are four zaptiehs with the caravan besides
Siiliman; and one of them, Mahmoud, being an
Aleppine, has made friends with Hanna. He seems
a good sort of man, and has helped us wdth our
tents and mares. "We are encamped about half a
mile from the village of Mieddin, in a sort of penin-
sula w'here there is grass, and where, from its posi-
tion, we are not likely to have any attempt made
to steal our mares. The caravan and Suliman and
the rest of the zaptiehs, all but Mahmoud, are gone
to spend the night in the village, and we are here
at last in peace and quietness, the MudiT of the

]V11EIJ1JJ>^ AND LEANING iMOitQUE.

CH. IX.] Honesty in Horse Dealing.

137

village 'witli his friends, who came out to pay their
respects, having been politely got rid of. The sky
is clear, the night starlit, and we can plainly see
Mieddin with its leaning minaret. Our mares are
tethered close to ns, with their noses inside the
tent, being prevented from coming inside altogether
by heel ropes. They are enjoying a huge feed of
corn, after having picked up all the grass they
could get for a couple of hours. We have only
got Hagar and Tamarisk (my new pony) with us,
the rest having gone hack to Aleppo with Mr. S.
Mahmoud, the zaptieh, rides a little grey colt not
two years old, which is very playful and friskj',
and manages to break away from its tether every
five minutes. Tamarisk, too, is very fidgetty.

January 28. — A cold and frosty morning. Siili-
man, though he had spoken very wisely over-night
about the advantages of early rising, did not appear
till eight o’clock, and even then the katterjis had
to he waited for. As we were at last riding away,
the MudiT joined us with as much of a cavalcade as
he could get together to do us honour. There was
the usual fantasia, in which we especially distin-
guished a hay mare, an Aheyeh Sheraak they told us.
It is curious that all the best gallopers arc bays.

A very pretty filly was brought to us, by the
way, yesterday, a “ mahwardi,” or rose-coloured
“ Kehileh.” She was so handsome that avc en-
tered into negotiations with the owner, who was
probably an Aghedaat or Buggara. He could not,

138 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [oh. ix.

however, tell us anything more of her breeding
than that she was “Kehileh” without any addi-
tional name, Avhich is as much as to admit that she
is not “ hadxida,” * so we did not pursue the matter
fui’ther. This is a good instance of a fact we have
ah’eady once or twice tested, namely, that Arabs,
except in the toAvus, will not tell a falsehood about
their horses’ breeding. There was nothing hut
principle in this case to restrain the man from
lying, for there were no lookers-on ; and by his
honesty he lost a good price for a beast he was
anxious to sell. This is the more remarkable, as in
all other matters, truth is the exception, not the
rule, among the Arabs, f

To-day’s march was through a cultivated district,
and consequently uninteresting, except from the
large flocks of sand-grouse^ we came across from
time to time. These birds are too well-known to
need description, and the variety we here find is
not different from some that we have seen in Egypt
and elsewhere. Wilfrid got a family shot from his
mare as a large pack rose in front of him, and
brought doxvii five. Though pretty birds, they are
poor eating. At about mid-day we came to a large

* Hadud, or fit to breed from.

t Compare practice in Great Britain and elsewhere, and see
chapter on horses.

t Sand-grouse. Gutta, Kata, “a partridge-like bird,” according
to Palgrave. Compare Marco Polo’s account of birds : “ grands
comme des perdrix, ont les pattes faites comme les perroquets, la
queue comme les hirondelles, et volent moult bien.”

CH. IX.

A Night among Wolves.

139

lagoon covered witli ‘vvild-fowl, but there ^yas no
cover near it, and no chance of shooting. We
wasted so nineh time here that the caravan passed
ns, and before we caught it up it had come to a
halt at some Aghedaat tents, in the middle of a
barley field.

This camp had probably been there all the winter,
and was disgustingly dirty, and full of noisy dogs ;
so, to the grief of oim followers, zaptiehs, katterjis,
and even Hanna, Ave insisted upon proceeding. In
A’ain Siiliman, AA’ith a mixture of impertinence
and entreaty, assured ns that there Avas neither
grass nor AA'ater on the road before ns, and that,
horror of horrors, Ave should have to sleep in the
herriye (desert). We told him to mind his OAAm
business, and to come on or not as he pleased.
He followed us sulkily. Before long Ave came
to a very nice place just under the clitf, Avith
plenty of good grass, bushes for firoAVOod, and a
little pond Avhere there Avere ducks and teal. Here
Ave haAm stopped ; and a A’ery pleasant place it is, far
from all sounds of man and beast. Abeady Ilamia
has got a capital fire lighted, and the sand-grouse
and pigeons cooking. The tAVO zaptiehs are in good
humour again, as I hear them laughing and talking
incessantly. But for the red sunset, Avhich threatens
rain, avc should haA'e not a care in the Avorld be-
yond that of digesting Hanna’s immense dinner.

Janiiarij 29. — Tamarisk AAms a great trouble to us
all night, stamping and paAving and breaking aAAuy

140 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. ix.

in spite of all her feet being hobbled. This was
perhaps on account of the jackals, wolves, and
hyaenas which cried and liowled round ns so as to
frighten Mahmoud into keeping up a fire. He
remarked very ruefully in the morning that it was
a “ terrible thing to sleep in the desert among the
wolves.” I confess I like them better than I do
the Arab dogs and fowls, and the incessant talking
of the men. My mare is certainly a very tiresome
creature, and in spite of her good looks I cannot
get fond of her. She is full of “ tricks and sub-
terfuges,” and seems to have a fixed determination
to go back to Deyr. This may account for the story
we heard of her when we bought her. She was
stolen about six months before and was away nearly
two months, but appeared one evening at the ferry
opposite Dep’, and insisted upon being taken across.
She had a Bedouin pad on her back and had no
doubt been among the Shammar, but had given
them the slip as she is trying to do with us now.
Though tied and fettered hand and foot she manages
repeatedly to draw her peg ; but Wilfrid has hit
upon a plan which seems to be effective. It is to
shackle the fore feet and then pass the head rope
loosely through the fetter before tying it to the peg.
This gives her nothing fixed to pull against and
she seems much disconcerted.

Towards sumise a bitter wind rose and blew into
the tent freezing us to the bone as we were packing,
nor could Ave get off till the katterjis came, for they

CH. IX.] How to Tether a Fidgetty Marc.

141

had gone back to the caravan to spend the night.
This is one of the miseries of travelling with hired
animals, bnt they shall not he let out of sight again.
We had two or three hours to-day of desert and
passed the ruins of Salahiyeh, a town of the same
date and much the same size as Eakka. It has a
fine gate in the middle of the west front, called the
“ Bab esh Sham,” the Syrian Gate. Salahiyeh
was probably the town where the Damascus road
formerly branched off from the Euphrates, after
following the river westwards from Ana. All is
deserted now. On retui-ning to the valley we found
a large plain of green barley before us, interspersed
with thorn bushes, which the Arabs had not thought
it necessary to clear away. Across this we went
for a mile or so without following any track. In-
deed, the path we have so long pursued has now
disappeared, except in places where there is a nar-
row passage between rocks or some other natural
feature which compels the few travellers to tread in
each other’s footsteps. In many places, too, the
track has been broken into by the river, and an
incautious person going along it in the dark might
very well be led, before he knew what he Avas
doing, OA’er the bank, which is very abrupt, and into
the river. This portion of the A'alley is much the
most thickly inhabited and the best cultivated that
wc have seen yet. After the barley fields Ave found
ourselves in a sort of open Avood of large tamarisks,
each tree groAving on a separate mound of sand. It

142 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. ix.

is difficult to know wlietlier the mound causes
the tree or the tree the mound. "We found some
Agheyl encamped here with their camels, and
stopped to drink coffee with them, which, as usual,
they hospitably offered. They were on their way
from Bagdad to Aleppo.

The Agheyl are a peculiar race (perhaps I should
say tribe), for they are pure Arabs, though not
“ noble,” whose head-quarters is Bagdad, They
never seem to stay much at home, hut travel
backwards and forwards on the great caravan roads.
They go very slowly, so as not to tire their camels,
eight to ten miles a day, and carry goods “ ^ tr^s
petite vitesse ” between the towns. They have the
reputation of immaculate honesty and seem good
friends with everybody, townsman, Turk, and
Bedouin, They do not carry tents, but pile their
camel loads in a circle at night and sleep inside.
They are cheerful, good-natured people and very
hospitable. They leave their women and children
at home at Bagdad, and only the men travel.

We passed through the wood till the sun was
getting low, and still there was no sign of Abu-
Kamdl, where Ave were to pass the night. If the
katterjis had been with us, we should have stopped
and camped Avhere we were, but now that the track
had ended we did not care to risk missing them
altogether by Avaiting for them to come up ; so
after Wilfrid had climbed to the top of a tell or
tall mound, Avhere there were four graves, and

CH. IX.]

The Fort of Abu-Kamdl.

which overlooked a large tract of country, and seen
nothing of the caravan, we agreed to gallop on and
get into the fort before dark, Wilfrid had caught
sight of it about three miles off in front of us.
This we did, and had a delightful gallop. Tamarisk
keeping up with Hagar much better than I had
expected. The zaptiehs were soon left behind,
and in about a quarter of an hour Ave foimd
OTU'selves at the fort of Abu-Kamal. The man in
charge, who has the rank of MudiT, receded us
Avith much amiability, and immediately had a lamb
caught for us and slain. He took us on to the
roof, and tried to make us come inside a little
pepper-pot of a turret Avhere he lived and in Avhich
a huge fire had been lit. We preferred stojiping
outside and lying doAvn on the roof, AA^here we Avere
soon sound asleep, for Ave have had a A^ery long
march to-day. When Ave Avoke, it was nearly
dark, and the moon and stars were out. Hanna
had anWed Avith some rugs, and his cooking-
apparatus, Avhich never leaves him. There is no
A\dnd, and Ave have got a candle on the terrace,
so that I can Avrite ; and noAV dinner is ready, three
dishes, all made of the same lamb, AA^hile our host,
Arho AAull not sit doAvii, stands shivering by to AAuit
on us. The night looks frosty, but the katterjis
are announced, so avc shall have our bods and not
bo obliged to take refuge in the turret.

January 30. — These forts on the Euphrates all
consist of a square courtyard enclosed by a imid

144 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. ix.

wall twelve feet high, and without other opening
to the outer world than a single gateway. Inside
are low rooms along three sides, used by the
zaptiehs or by travellers, the flat tops of which
make a terrace, where there is generally an upper
chamber like a box in which the head man lives.
Prom this he looks down on all the country round,
and spends his time watching for caravans which
do not come. A dull life. Our host informs us
that after all the Anazeh are still in his neigh-
hoiu'hood only two days ofl ! So we have been
befooled by the Pasha. He tells us, too, that
Jedaan passed by here quite lately, with one
hundred and fifty horsemen, coming hack from
across the river, where he had been on a camel-
lifting raid against the Shammar. It is very
provoking, and too late now to change our plans.

Our road to-day was through a pleasant country,
no more cultivation or inhabitants of any kind
except birds and beasts, — great ponds surrounded
with brushwood, where Wilfrid got some shooting.
One drive which I made on Tamarisk was especially
successful, producing five ducks of different sorts.
This is much the nicest part of the whole river,
and would he a capital place to make one’s head-
quarters for a shooting excursion, as there are pools
and marshes with plenty of geese, ducks, snipes,
and other aquatic birds, while the big tamarisk
woods are full of francolins, woodcocks, and ■wild
hoars. Wilfrid saw several of these, and had a

CH. IX.]

Wild Boars and others.

145

snap shot at a wolf, who went away Avith a
broken leg.

It is a great comfort to have got rid of the
caraA'an, Avhich stayed behind someAvhere yesterday.
We are now encamped at a place called Gdyim,
where there is a little stream of running Avater (the
first Ave liaAm crossed) and a nice open plateau of
grass aboAm it, Avith a fine vieAV of the river and of
the tamarisk Avood beloAV. There is another guard-
house at a little distance, to Avhich Ave have sent for
corn. The guard-houses on this side of Deyr are
most of them still garrisoned in spite of the Avar —
that is to say, they contain two or tliree zaptiehs
each, and it is considered prudent to encamp more
or less in their neighbourhood, as there are
ghazus (marauding parties) about, and Jediian
is close by. The caravan itself Avould not, I am
sure, for any consideration spend the night outside
their walls. * * *

I was rejoicing in the solitude and beauty of
the place, Avhen lo and behold ! an immense caravan
AAuth dates from Ana, Avhich, finding us encamped
here under the protection of Suliman, has settled
itself doAvn beside us and intends passing the night.
There are hardly any camels in this party, but
about a hundred donkeys, Avhich bray incessantly,
almost droAvning their masters’ Amices, and that is
saying a great deal. The blessings of wood, AA^ater,
and grass arc dearly purchased at the expense of a
night of noise and watchfulness, for Ave shall have

VOL. I.

146 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. ix.

now to sleep with one eye open and fixed on our
mares, for fear they should be stolen. The zaptiehS’
are not of the slightest use as guards, for they sing
one half of the night, and then sleep soundly the
other half. Howeyer, we must make the best of
it, and Hdnna has made us a capital dinner of teal
soup, hurghul with little bits of meat in it from
yesterday’s lamb, and a fowl with fried onions. I
hear the howling of jackals and wolves; and
doubtless the huge fires of the caravan do much to
keep away wild beasts. Mahmoud, like all Alep-
pines, is very timorous about these, and declares
that the mares see them at night whenever they
look out into the dark. I now have to alter the
stuffing of my saddle, which is not quite right, so
T leave off.

January 31.- — The donkey caravan was ofi this
morning before we were, and its place was im-
mediately occupied by hundreds of magpies hopping
about and looking for scraps.

We have got into a new sort of country. The
cliffs on the right bank of the river have entirely
disappeared, and low downs intersected with ravines
have taken their place, while on the opposite bank
there is a fine headland marking the corner where
the river, after a good many miles of nearly southerly
course, takes a general direction eastwards. Tho
valley has narrowed considerably and is not, I
suppose, more than a mile across, while the tamarisk
woods have disappeared, they tell us, for good. We-

cH. IX.] ZyOSS of the Ettphrates steamer.

147

have also crossed to-day and yesterday a number of
■wadys leading to the river, the most remarkable
being the Wady Ali. iNone of these had any -water
in them, in spite of the rainy Avinter we are haAung,
and it is difficult to understand under what circum-
stances they can ever be rivers, though the Avater
marks in their beds attest that they must sometimes
be full. It is somewhere near this bend of the riA’er
that Colonel Chesney lost one of his steamers in a
hurricane when he Avas surveying the Euphrates.
There is a curious entry about it still preseiwed
among the Consular archives at Aleppo. It is the
account of the storm given by the English mate of
the surviving steamer, Avho Avas in charge Avhen
the accident happened. His creAV Avas an Arab
one, picked up, I believe, at Ana. This is all I
remember of it : “ The Avindy and watery elements
raged tremendnons, prayers and tears Avas had
recourse to, but, being of no avail, I up anchor and
round the corner.”

In the afternoon, after having again crossed a bit
of desert to cut off an angle where we made a
successful grouse drive, Ave came upon a ruined mill
built out into the river. At first Ave could not
make out Avhat it Avas, as the Avheels had long ago
disappeared. It is probably of the Saracenic period
or even later, the upper part seeming to be the most
modem. It must have been used for raising Avater
to irrigate the valley, and as I see many mills
marked on the map, this is probably the first of'

148 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. ix

several. It is strange that one should find none in
the upj)er part of the valley where the soil seems so
much more capable of being cultivated than here,
but perhaps they depended there on rain for their
crops. There is no cultivation anywhere about here
now, or any inhabitants. We cannot make out
many of the places marked by Colonel Chesney on
his map. Either he put them down wrongly, or
the names have changed within the last forty years,

February 1, — A wearisome day. The desert now
comes quite down to the river on both sides mthout
any intervening space of green. We were out of
sight of it most of the day, stumbling along over a
most disagreeably stony tract, both the mares tired,
Mahmoud’s colt has quite got over his disposition
to romp, and has now to be led by the bridle, as
have most of the zaptiehs’ horses. It was a great
relief at last to catch sight of a group of palip. trees,
the first we have seen, peeping over the horizon and
growing, as presently appeared, out of the river bed,
which is here very narrow and sharply cut through
the rocky desert. These were the outposts of the
oasis of Ana. Two hours more brought us to the
edge, whence we looked doAvn upon the river, and
there lay Ana, a comforting sight indeed to weary
eyes. As the view was quite unlike anything Ave
have hitherto seen on our journey, I must try and
describe it.

The Euphrates, as I haA’e said, is very narrow
here, having cut itself a way through a low line of

CH. IX.]

First palm Village.

149

limestone hills which crosses its course at right
angles, and so has formed a deep winding gorge a
good many miles in length. Along the bottom of
this cleft the river runs in a series of rapids, and it
is fringed on either side with palms. The town,
which is a very ancient one, consists of a single
long street of low mud houses with flat roofs, each
having its little space of garden, but connected
together by a continuous wall, with occasional side-
alleys to the river. It is about six miles long, they
say, (longer than Brighton), but we have only come
through part of it as yet. Opposite the point where
we first came upon the town there is a fine reach of
Avater sweeping round a bold promontory, on which
a castle has in late years been built. Ana k in
the pashalik of Bagdad, and this they tell us is one
of a series of castles made by Midhat Pasha’s orders
to protect the Euphrates road. Though modern it
is not in bad taste. It figures prominently in a
sketch I made, but I found it impossible to repre-
sent fairly the depth of the gorge and the extreme
beauty of the dark-green palm groves against the
red face of the rocks. To those who have seen
Egypt, the character of the scene will be familiar.

After a seemingly interminable ride along tlie
main street of the toAvn, where the inhabitants had
assembled in groups to see ns pass, politely return-
ing our salutations, Ave came at last to an open
space fronting the riA^or, Avherc Ave found a caravan
already encamped. Here it Avas proposed that avc

150 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. ix.

should stop, and though we would rather have had
the place to ourselves, we had nothing better to
suggest, and so have pitched our tents under a
group of palms.

The river is very fine here, and the buildings
pictm*esque. Moreover, we are well sheltered from
the wind, and though there is no grass for the
mares, we have promise of straw and corn in abund-
ance. The Kaimakam of course came to pay his
respects to us, and a number of other bores not
easily got rid of, but thank goodness they are gone
now, and we can eat our dinners peaceably, and, as
there is no fear of our mares being stolen here, we
shall get a good night’s rest, of which we are sorely
in need.

CHAPTEK X.

Beenardo. ’Tis here.

Horatio. *Tis here.

Marcellus. ’Tis gone.— Hamlet.

A Bedouin foray — We converse with a ghost — Engagement of
Zenil Aga — We resolve to depart — The Kaimakam accom-
panies us — Entertained by Sotamm — A Bedouin meal — News
from home.

February 2. — To-day has been one of blessed
idleness. First there was a grand inspection of the
mares’ backs, and the saddles which have rubbed
them. Hagar is looking rather wretched with a
wrung wither, but I am in hopes that by shifting
the stuffing of the saddle, I may have made things
right for her. It has fortunately been a fine day,
and the sun has been almost hot, which the mares
enjoy, rolling on the sand to their hearts’ content.
While I arranged the saddle, Wilfrid took a walk
on the hill with a young zaptieh, a native of the
place, who has been told ofi to us as guard while
we are here. They came back at twelve with two
brace of partridges, little bii’ds of a pale dove-colour,
like that of the rocks among which they live.
They have yellow legs and orange bills, and orange
eyes with black pupils. The hills were quite bare

152 Bedotdn T^'ibes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. x.

and desolate. As lie was coming back he met a
number of people running towards the top of an
eminence, who informed him that a party of Anazeh
had come down and were carrying off some sheep.
It is curious how little communication there seems
to be between the Valley and the Desert. Except
on the occasion of a foray of this sort nothing seems
to be known or heard of the Bedouins outside by
those who live on the banks of the river. Perhaps
at other times of the year this may be different, but
now the Berriye seems to be a debateable territory,
where nobody goes without fear and trembling.
The townspeople talk of the Desert, which is at their
elbow, with all the expressions of awe and aversion
which ignorant Europeans might have, who had
never heard of it except as a traveller’s tale.

As we were sitting by the river this afternoon
watching the inhabitants coming down to perform
their religious ablutions and say their prayers, we
were accosted by an ancient mariner, a venerable
looking man, with a long white beard and the
remains of a green turban on his head. He
greeted us gravely, but in a rather singular fashion,
with the words “ Starboard, port, goddam,” and
went on to explain that he knew oim language,
having served in Colonel Chesney’s expedition
forty years before. He asked with much feeling
after the various officers then employed on the
survey, and appeared touched at the news that his
commander was still alive. He then went down

CH. X.]

We converse with a ghost.

153

tlie bank to tlie river, as we thought to wash like
the others, so that om’ conversation with him was
interrupted, and when we looked for him again he
had disappeared. Whether he was the ghost of
one of those dro^vned in the hurricane of 1836, or,
as is more likely, had shnply swum across the river
without our noticing it, I cannot say, but his dis-
appearance struck ns as mysterious.

We are rid of Suliman at last, to our great com-
fort and relief. He came this morning to say he
could go no further with us, and to ask for the
present which is usual in return for such services
as he had rendered. Wilfrid gave him more than
he had any right to expect ; but he went away
sulky and dissatisfied, and, as it seems, threw the
money down in Hanna’s tent, using what is called
“abusive language.” Hanna came in great glee
to tell ns this and to ask if he might keep the
pieces, but we told him to leave them there. We
are to be off to-morrow morning, for though the
mares would perhaps be better for another day’s
rest, it had better be outside the town. We have
been much pestered with visitors, who have come
with the best intentions in the Avorld and the
politest imitations to dinners and breakfasts ; but
Avc arc really too tired to pay them all the atten-
tion they deserve. A ncAV sergeant has come in
Siiliman’s place, an Albanian, named Zaynil, or
Zenil Aga. I hope he may be a less disagreeable
gaoler.

154 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

Sunday, February 3. — A heavy storm of rain in
the night ; hnt our tent is, I am glad to say,
waterproof. The katterjis, of course, found it an
excellent excuse for proposing another day’s rest ;
.and the caravan, which had arrived yesterday, sent
an earnest protest, in the name of the ladies in the
panniers, who were too much fatigued to go on.
The roads, they declared would be impassable, and
the baggage was wet through and too heavy for the
mules. All just and sufficient reasons, hut not
ones we could admit. Lastly Z^nil, our new chief
of the staff, in polite hut decided terms, expressed
his opinion that the journey should he delayed.
To which we only replied hy pulling the tents
■down and ordering the mules to he loaded. For-
tune thus encouraged favoured us, for the rain,
which had been falling heavily till then, suddenly
■ceased, and in half an hour more everything was
ready and we started. I am hoxmd to say that,
from the moment the matter was settled, everybody
was quite cheerful and ready to do his work. In-
deed, sulkiness is not common among the Arabs.
A soft word with them, or still better a merry one,
quickly turns away wrath ; and the old saying of
people not being made of sugar, which we trans-
lated into Arabic, had full effect as an original and
appropriate witticism. They laughed, and opposition
was at an end.

We had not yet started when the Kaimakam
joined us and most politely rode in our company

•CH. X.]

Kaimakarn accompanies us.

155

till we were outside the to^vn, the best part of a
Sabbath day’s joiu’ney, as it took us nearly two
houi’s. The long street was muddy from the rain,
and the hog-backed bridges over the water-courses
which Ave had to cross continually, were slippery
enough to justify the katterjis in their assurance of
danger. But, once outside, the ground was hard
enough, and the caravan, which had started because
Ave insisted on going, had nothing more to complain
of. The Kaimakarn left us at the last house in the
toAAui, after having sent to its OAAuier for a breakfast
of dates, bread and milk, AA'hich Ave sat doAvn on a
cloak and ate. Then, Avith strict injunctions that
Ave shoidd all keep together for fear of the Anazeh,
Avho last night had driven ofl ten coavs from this
A'ery place, he allowed us to j)roceed. Lastly, to
complete our triumph, the sun came out and aa^o
had a A^ery pleasant ride, cantering on and stopping
alternately, as opportunity offered, to gwe our mares
a bite of grass here and there Avhile the rest of the
party came up.

Z^nil has excellent manners and seems anxious
to be on good terms Avith us, giving us information
about the tribes and places Ave are likely to pass,
such as Siiliman AA^as too stupid or too sulky to
offer. We Avere tired of the monotonous routine
of travelling we have hitherto submitted to, and of
depending for our society on the zaptiehs and
stopping each night in the neighbourhood of their
guardhouses. We Avished to see something ncAV.

156 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. x.

So when we came at about three o’clock within
sight of some tents, we decided on going to them
and making acquaintance with their owners. We
had been all day on the high ground, and were still
some miles from the river, and this is the first camp
we have come to fairly out in the desert. Zenil
made no objection, and led the way. It has been
an interesting evening, and we perceive that it was
a great misfortune to us to have travelled so long
with Siiliman, who was brutal and overbearing
■with the Arabs, and prevented our ever making
friends with them. Zenil, on the contrary, is
pleasant in his manners to all alilce.

Our new friends are of the Jerifa, an old-
fashioned pastoral tribe, one of those which have
lived on here since the days of Job, peaceful, un-
pretending people, and tributary of late years to
the Shammar. They usually live in Mesopotamia,
and have only crossed the river for the sake of
better pasture. I should think they must run
considerable risk here of being plundered by the
bands of Anazeh we have heard of lately ; but, as
they have no camels and only sheep and cows and
a few second-rate mares, perhaps the Anazeh do
not care to molest them.

Our host. Sotamm, the chief man of this section
of the tribe, is a great uncouth creature, with no
pretension whatever to distinction (indeed, the Jerifa
are evidently a very low tribe) in looks or in
manners, but A^thal a transparently honest man.

CH. X.]

Sotdmm entertains tcs.

157

He received ns so boorishly that at first Ave thought
we Avere not Avelcome, hut it soon turned out that
this Avas mere shyness and the effect of the over-
Avhelming honour Avhich he felt Avas being done liim.
I suppose he has never entertained so much as a
merchant from Bagdad in his life ; and a small
country squire in Sussex, receiving an unexpected
visit from the Pope or the Empress of the French,
could hardly display more sense of the solemnity of
the occasion than this poor man did in being host
to a couple of Franjis. For at least ten minutes he
Avas unable to say a Avord except to his sons or
others about him, to Avhom he gave orders, in a loud
and angry-sounding voice, to have sheep slain and
fircAVOod brought, and to his Avomen, Avho Avere
behind a screen, to make bread for dinner and to
bring dates and butter instantly in a lordly dish.
Then, Avithout looking at us or ansA\^ering any of
our remarks, he sat doAvn and began pounding coffee
as if his life depended on the violence of the
thumping Avith Avhich he thumped it. In the
meanAvhile Ave had taken our seats Avithout cere-
mony on a carpet, Avhich had been hastily spread
beyond the fire in the furthest corner of the tent,
and Avere soon engaged in conversation Avith friends
and neighbours, Avho had flocked in from all sides in
anticipation of the feast and Avho, having none of
the responsibility of entertaining us, Avcrc commu-
nicative enough and even curious. One young
man AA^as so familiar in his remarks that he had to

158 Bedouin B'ibes of the Etcphrates. [cn. x.

be silenced by the rest. Presently milk was
brought, and dates with fresh butter rather nastily
plastered into the dish by the very evident thumbs
of the women. Of this we partook, dipping the
dates, as the custom is, into the butter. In the
meanwhile the coffee-pounding was finished; and,
the fire having been made up with a faggot of wild
lavender smelling most sweetly, water was boiled
in a huge coffee-pot and the coffee finally made in
another, all this with the greatest possible solemnity
by Sotamm himself. The coffee turned out to be
excellent, but too strong to drink more of than the
few spoonfuls poured out to each guest in diminu-
tive china cups. Everyone present was treated to
a portion, and then the pot was brought round
to us again, and so on till the last drop was
finished.

After this, Sotamm, feeling that he had done his
duty, joined in the talk, which was principally kept
up by Zcinil, for with our stock of Arabic it is not
easy to pursue the few topics of conversation far.
Our host, it presently appeared, had a mare he was
proud of, or rather anxious to sell, so we all got up
and went outside before it was quite dark to look
at her. The honest man was very naif in this,
perhaps, his first attempt at horse-dealing, praising
his mare beyond any possible merits she could
possess, and in a loud whisper constituting Z^nil
his A^akiT (agent) for the price . At last she came,
a little clumsy chesnut, with an ugly head and

CH. X.]

A Bedo^dn meal.

159

defective hoofs, besides the disfigurement of an im-
mense fixing operation on her flank. We had out
of politeness to admire, and were fortunate enough
to be able to cover our retreat from a purchase with
the excuse of her want of ske. This is an un-
answerable argument, and Sotdmm accepted it
good-humouredly, though he was evidently disap-
pointed. He then sent for a mare of his neigh-
bour’s, a Hddbeh, but no better specimen. We
were afraid at first that our refusals to buy might
dimmish the cordiality of our reception ; but this
was not at all the case, and after allowing us te
retme for awhile to our o^vn tent, our host came to
announce that dinner was ready.

This is the first really Bedouin meal we have
made, and abominably bad it was. The sheep
seemed to have been cut up Avith a hatchet quite
independently of its anatomical construction, bones,
meat, and all mangled and messed together, so that
it Avas impossible to get at a clean-looking piece
free from gristle or splinters. These had been
thi’OAvn into a pot and boiled Avithout seasoning or
other ceremony, and then turned out into a great
round Avooden dish a yard in diameter. Butter
had next been plastered round the mass, and flat,
half-baked loaAms of dough set to garnish the edge
of the plate, all damp and clammy and half sopped
in the broth. In the middle lay the great fat tail
of the sheep, a huge lump of talloAV, AAntli bits of
liver and other nastiness near it. Though very

i6o Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. x.

hungry, neither Wilfrid nor I were able to make
much progress with such a meal, especially as,
being eaten by the fitful light of the fire only, it
was impossible to pick and choose our pieces. The
darkness, however, was welcome in one way, for it
concealed our failure from Sotamm, who stood by
watching jealously lest we should prematurely cease
eating. He could not guess that our hands dipped
into the dish returned empty to our mouths, — a
“harmecide” meal, which did not last long, for two
or three minutes seem to he the time allowed for
each set of eaters. Then the dish was passed on to
Zenil, Mahmoud, Hanna, and the katterjis, who as
strangers came next, and then, some pieces having
been set aside for the host, the remainder was
put down to he scrambled for by the rest of the
company, Sotamm’s friends and relations. A
plateful of graves would not have disappeared
sooner in a kennel of hounds than this did among
the hungry Jerifa. Meanwhile Sotamm, with his
sleeves turned up, set to on his own portion, wiping
his dripping fingers from time to time playfully on
the heads of his children, among whom he occasion-
ally distributed a morsel. The feast concluded
with oirr all having some milk out of a wooden
howl, and the guests then separated without fiu’ther
ceremony.

We are now, I am glad to say, in our own
tent, where Hanna is furtively preparing a more
possible meal out of the odds and ends of yester-

€H. X.]

We Invite Sotdmm to Ensrland. i6r

clay’s dinner. We are alone, bnt not by any means
at peace, for the camp is jnst now like an English
country tow on market days, sheep baaing, lambs
bleating, and cows lowing, while nnseen animals
wander round, stumbling every instant over the
tent ropes. Onr outlandish tent puzzles them.
But they are so tame there is no driving them
away, and every now and then a mare or colt, with
iron shackles clanking on its legs, comes np to
make onr mares’ acquaintance. There seems little
prospect of sleep.

Felruary ,4. — Long before sunrise the Arabs
were np and the sheep and cows driven off to
pasture. The camp is restored to comparative
quiet for onr ow packing up and departure. The
Jerifa here have some of the humped cattle found
in India as well as the European sort, so that
this part of the river seems to mark the line of
demarcation between the two breeds. The sheep
all have the heavy tails of the Syrian breed, and
the goats are much what they are in Italy and
Spain.

Sotamm brought us milk and butter for break-
fast, and we vfcre rather curious to see whether all
this hospitality was to bo genuine, or whether he
would expect a return to be made for it out of onr
poekets. Bnt such doubts did him wrong. Ilis
only request as wo went away was that wo should
come again ; and we, as wo wished him good-bye,
felt really touched by his kindness, not icnowing

VOL. I.

i62

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x;.

how to acknowledge it except by inviting him, with
his flocks and herds, to spend the summer with us in*
England, a form of eompliment he appreciated at
more than its worth. We promised if ever we-
came that way again we would not pass his tent
without stopping, and, mounting oxn mares amicC
a general shower of good wishes, we rode away.
We have never met with more genuine hospitality
on any of oxn travels than this. Hitherto our
expei’ience of this Arab vhtxxe has been limited to-
oxn pxirchasing the sheep, and our entertainer’s;
inviting himself to eat it with ns. Here the
feast was all his.

The liver lately has been very much less interest-
ing than it was higher up. There ai*e now no
tamarisk woods, and very fexv of those pi’etty spots-
we used to And higher up for encamping. The
road goes for the most part over desert, and a desert
of a very disagreeable stony sort, constantly inter-
sected by ravines. The mares, however, are quite
fresh again, and, after a canter we had in the morn-
ing, refused for all the rest of the day to settle
doxxTi into a steady xvalk. We have halted opposite
the village of Hadiseh, in a walled garden enclos-
ing some fruit trees and plenty of grass for the
horses. There are heavy clouds aboxit, and a little
rain has fallen. Hadiseh is built on an island,
and is picturesque enough xvith palm-groves and
a minaret. There is no bridge to it, and people
cross the rix'or sxvimming on inflated skins, just

CH. X.]

The City of Job.

163

like the figures on the has-reliefs found at
iN'ineyeh.

Hanna has had a fall from his pony, and has
bruised his face, and it makes him very doleful ;
but the accident has, I am glad to say, distracted
his thoughts from a pain in the side of which he
has been complaining. I have been afraid more
than once lately of his breaking doAvn. What does
him most good seems to be putting on mustard
plasters, but he is very careless of getting chilled
afterwards, and I fear there is something serious
the matter with him. I wish the weather would
get warm.

February 5. — To-day we passed a large pool of
warm water in a wady close to the river, and flowing
into it. It was full of fish, and at the point where
the warm water met the river we saw several very
large ones, jumping like salmon. They may have
been ten or twelve pound fish. Later Ave came to
el TJz, an island and village very like Iladisehy
and remarkable as being the toAvn Avhere Job lived
so many years ago. It was easy to imagine the
place unchanged. Job must have been a toAvn
Arab, as his house is spoken of, but he probably
kept flocks and herds over in the Jezfrch (Meso-
potamia), and perhaps spent part of the spring
Avith them in tents, as Arabs do ; Avhilc the Sabcans
aaLo plundered him may A'cry avcII have been a
ghazti, such as avc have just had ncAvs of. Zenil
informs us that fifteen hundi’cd sheep Avere diivcn

1 64 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

off a few days since from the neighbourhood of el
TJz, and highly disapproves the camp we have
chosen to-night, which is a mile or more from the
village of Jehheh. But we are becoming callous
to tales of hardmi.! robbers, and even of ghazus.
About an hour and a half before we stopped, we
crossed the Wady Hauran, said, according to Ches-
ney, to come from the Hauran mountains near
Damascus. Its bed was chy. There is a three-
days’-old moon to-night.

There are some mills here in workuig order, and
some in ruins. Hanna was in despair for wood to
make a fire, Avhen the zaptiehs made a raid on one
of these, and brought hack part of a wheel with
them — a true zaptieh proceeding. It was soaking
wet, hut with lavender sprigs and the roots of other
desert plants, burnt well enough for cooking pur-
poses. They brought, too, some desert truffles'"'’ they
had grubbed up ; and Hanna, thus encouraged, has
surpassed himself, giving us, Wilfrid says, a dish
fit to be served by M. Henri liimsclf, the fat head-
waiter at Bignon’s. These truffles are white, and
much softer than the black sort. They look like
potatoes, and, though not so Avell fiavoiu'ed, are much
more practically useful than the others.

February 6. — The Aveather has changed, but
instead of growing warmer it is only colder. Oh,
what a bitter wind ! W e left the baggage to folloAV
as it could, and galloped on to Avarm ourseHes,

* Kemeyeli*

CH. X.]

The City of the Hit tit es.

165

and have done a really long day’s journey in a few
hours. We met some people on foot, coming from
Bagdad, who told ns that the English and another
Frankish nation had joined the Sultan in his war
against the Muscdv, and that thirty ships full of
soldiers had been sent to Constantinople. They
could not tell us who the other nation was. For
about two hours we kept by the river, then alter-
nately along desert and river, till about tAVO o’clock
Ave got doAvn from the stony desert on to a A^ery
arid plain, with tracts of black sand partly under
Avater. We noticed, as Ave Avent across this, a
strange smell, like that one perceh'es in London
when a street is being laid doAAm in asphalt ; and
Ztiuil, who was riding Avith us, explained that it
came from some aa'oIIs of black water in the neigh-
boui-hood. Presently Ave came to a small stream of
dingy Avater, the Wady Milrr, and a sort of black
morass, altogether the most desolate bit of country
I GYGV beheld, not excluding the bog of Allan. It
is quite Avithout A’egetation, and the plain is only
broken by strange Amlcanic-looking mounds, like
heaps of refuse. One might almost fancy oneself
in the back yard of some huge gasometer. Across
this Ave galloped, as it Avas capital ground for the
horses, and AA'ere soon apj)roaching a palm-grove
Avith a small toAAm beyond it, rising in a cone from
the plain, and topped Avith a minaret. This is Hitt,
the city, no doubt, of the Ilittitcs, as jebbeh, Avdiero
Ave Avere yesterday, must have been the city of the

1 66 Bedomii Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

Jcbusites. A curious old place, and more interest-
ing than any other of the inhabited towns we have
seen on the Euphrates. The black water they talk
of must come from the bituminous springs I see
marked on the map, and seems to be very nearly, if
not quite, the same as asphalt. We see splotches
of it all about the streets, wliile the floor of the
guard-house where we are is asphalted like a bit of
modern pavement. Hitt, of course, stands on the
river, and from the window I can see several
enormous barges coated with the same stuff. It is
here most likely that Noah built his ark, and
“ pitched it within and without with pitch,” for it
is ready here at hand. This lower valley of the
Euplirates is just the place where a great flood
would have come, so that it is foolish, although it
appears to be the fashion, to put doAvn the account
of it in the Book of Genesis as fabulous. Noah,
by the light of these springs at Hitt, is quite an
historic j)ersonage, and the beasts he saved with
him in the ark were, of course, his domestic animals,
camels, sheep, donkeys, and perhaps horses.

The extreme cold, and the fact that our baggage
is far behind, has driven us into the guard-house,
W'here we are now waiting. It is better than most
of these buildings, having some pretension even to
being called a khan. There are two little rooms
with carpets and cushions, dirty enough, which we
shall clear out as soon as we get our o^vn things.
We have made no ceremony with the Mudir, but

■CH. X.]

How Noah Built his Ark.

167

iiaye sent him away. The officials are all alike,
rand we are tired of them.

February 7. — A terribly cold night, in the middle
of which I got np and went down into the yard as
I heard the mares moring. I fonnd that Tamarisk,
who is the tiresomest animal I hare ever had to do
with, had managed to get her rug off and was of
•course shivering in the icy wind. Horses are the
least intelligent of all living creatures. For the
«ake of a moment’s * pleasure in rolling she had,
without thinking, exposed herself to a whole night
•of discomfort, and yet people talk of the wonderful
intelligence of the horse.

In the morning the violence of the wind some-
what abated, and there was a hard frost. We
■started the baggage early and went round with
■Zenil to have a look at the bitumen springs. They
were half a mile or so from the town, but you had
•only to follow your nose to find them. The smell
is not entirely caused by the gases from the water,
but more from the furnaces in which the pitch is
boiled after it is collected. The springs are cer-
tainly curious. They rise in craters and the water
is perfectly clear at first, but as it runs off a thick
black scum collects upon the top, and this is the stuff
they skim off and collect. The taste of the water
is disgusting, but it is not hot. There seem to have
been numbers of these crater-like fountains in the
neighbourhood formerly, but now most of them are
extinct. Wo only saw one in active work. It

1 68 Bedoilin Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. x.

bubbled iip in a largish yolume of crater, the
fountain being about twelye feet across by three or
four deep. The furnaces are set close to it, and are
fed partly with tamarisk faggots from up the river,,
partly Avith the bitumen itself. A little further on
Ave came to a hot spring steamiag thickly in the
cold morning air. This was of no Amlue, they said,
but as medicine, bemg in taste like the water at
Carlsbad, and producing no pitch. Is ear to it
there AA^ere salt pans, but not connected with the
spring.

We were glad, after daAvdling about looking at
these things, to haA'e the excuse of the caraAmn being
in front of us to gh^e our mares a gallop. This they
AA^ere ready enough for, and we soon joined the rest
of the party. We found them crossing a curioua
piece of rocky ground AA^hich seemed to be a sort of
old deposit. It aaws almost as smooth as glass, and
lay in a square pattern like slices of cake stuffed
AAdth almonds. A couple of traA^ellers haA-e joined
us from Hitt, one mounted on a fast-AAmlking drome-
dary Avhich moves oiu- enAy. After this the level
of the plain AA^as broken by a long gravelly ridge,
or, as we found on examining it, a couple of ridges,
running exactly parallel, and certainly not a work
of nature. Wilfrid thought they might be an
ancient double AA'all.'”'’ There AA^ere bushes near
them and some grass, and Ave sat doAvn awhile

* These, though we did not know it, were the first of the great
Eabylonian canals, whose remains cover lower Mesopotamia.

CII. X.]

Across Coimtry.

169

sheltered fi-oni the Avind, and ate our dates and
bread and let our mares feed. There is a good deal
of cnltiA'ation ahont here, uideed, I suspect we liaA^e
got doAvn to the great alluvial plain of Irak, which
is said to extend across the Tigris and Avas once
fertile enough. There are numerous small Avater-
courses tlu’ough the fields, connected Avith the river
for irrigating purposes, and Ave had some fun
taking a line across these. Tamarisk blundered a
good deal, but Hagar is a Avonderfully good jumper,
taking all the dykes in her stride, and putting
doAATi a foot in difficult places, just like an old
hunter in England. Xext Ave crossed a Ioav ridge-
of graA'elly desert, hut the desert noAV is A^ery little-
higher than the alluA'ial A^alley, and Ave thence
caught sight of Paimady, a largish toAvn Avith a.
minaret standing in the middle of a broad green
plain. As Ave Avere descending toAV='ards this Ave-
saAV a fox which Wilfrid gave chase to and soon
rode doAvn, but he found to his vexation that his-
gun was not loaded, so the fox got off. The. sky
looks very thi’eatening, and perhaps it is as Avell
that we are to be indoors again to-night. Zenil
had sent on a man to announce our arrival, and
consequently Ave Averc met by a guard of honour
outside the Aullage, and escorted at once to the
serai ; for Eumiidy is an important place and
actually in telegraphic communication Avith Bagdad
and the rest of the Avorld. There is a Xaimakam

1 70 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. x.

liere, a very polite man, who puts liimself “into
four,” to be agreeable to us. Eumady, unlike the
other villages of late, has no palm trees, but stands
in a large tract of irrigated corn-land. It is a new
place made important by Midhat Pasha, who built
the serai and barrack. The former is a really
handsome building, with an immense courtyard
behind it a hundred yards square. Here we are
lodged in a very tolerable room, hoping that the
katterjis may arrive before nightfall, as it is begin-
ning to snow.

Friday^ %tlu — Eumady. There is no chance of
our getting away to day, as the snow, which Wilfrid
was laughed at for predicting so far south, has
fallen. The whole country is white, and very
bleak and desolate it looks. When we looked out
this morning we found the mares, which we had
tied up in a corner of the yard so as to be out of
the wind, standing in a pool of half melted slush.
Poor creatures, they looked miserable enough, but
are realty none the worse for it, and are now very
happy walking about the yard, where there is some
.grass to eat, and where they can choose their own
shelter, and stand or lie do’wn where they like. If
it comes on snowing again we shall j)ut them into
an empty shed there is in the buildings, but the
stables would only give them colds. Mahmoud the
zaptieh has imitated our treatment in this, seeing
it succeed so well, and now always leaves his colt
•out of doors.

CH. X.] The Queen, the Sultans Vassal. 171

Tlie Kaimakam is superior to most officials we
have met, and being, as I said, in telegrapliic com-
munication with the world, talks very knowingly
about the affairs of Europe. He got a telegram
this morning to sa}'" that peace had been made with
Eussia, and is in high delight about it, though he has
not heard whether the terms of it are good or bad.
‘‘But then, you know,” he said, “we have got the
Broudogoul, and that shows it must be all right.
The Broudogoul is the important thing. It was
signed yesterday.” When we left England people
told us that the Mahometans would be very angiy
with England because she had deserted Turkey in
the war, but this was all nonsense. Hobody in the
country seems to have the least idea of our being
responsible in the matter, and we have been only
once or twice asked why England did not help the
Sultan this year as she did formerly. The fact is,
in this part of Turkey, and very likely everywhere,
it is an accepted fact in public opinion that the
English king is vassal to the Sultan. We have no
difficulty therefore in explaining how it is that the
English have not “marched” (rarh) with the
Turks. “The Sultan has wished this time to fight
the Czar alone,” we say; and they accept the
account without demur. An attempt to explain
the real reason of our not fighting, oven if wo could
give one, would not be taken seriously, and might
lead to discussions best avoided. Xow, however,
England, they tell us, has been called upon by the

172 Bedoinn Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

Sultan, and has come forward. Tire consequence of
which seems to he this glorious peace. I suppose
we shall know all about it when we get to Bagdad.
The only person who declines to echo the general
“inshalMh,” when the peace is mentioned, is Zenil,
who being an Albanian and a fervent Mussulman,
is still full of bloodthirsty ideas. He is a good
fellow though, and far superior to any of the
zaptiehs we have had to do with. He Avill have to
leave us here and came to say good-bye this m^orn-
ing. His gesture, in first declining and then ac-
cepting the present offered him, Avould have made
the fortune of a French actor in the character of
d’Artagnan or some such hero of the great school
of manners. He would willingly go on with us,
hut each district is Jealous to have its own men
employed on escort duty for the sake of the presents
given by travellers. So we are to he handed over
to a new officer to-morrow.

To-day has been a day of feasting, the Kaima-
kam hospitably stuffing us with really excellent
food ; dishes of stewed truffles, of a sort of celery
called heymeh, and of a sort of potato, the name
of which sounded like sejjerf besides the Iculecheh
or Bagdad cakes (Bath buns), and Bagdad pome-
granates, the largest in the world. The mares, too,
have had their fill of straw and barley, so if no
more snow falls we propose going on to-morrow.
The evening has cleared ; and I can see against the

* Apparently the same word as that which means “ a treeJ^

CH. X.]

A Wolf Htint.

173

Tzestern sky, and perched on a high pole in the
yard, a large buzzard, who would hardly go there
to roost if there was any prospect of wind or bad
weather.

February 9. — To-day has been the pleasantest of
all our journey, — the mares ready to jump out of
their skins with freshness after their day’s rest and
with the keen air of a frosty morning. At first
the road across the plain was very slippery with
ice, and then very slippery with mud as the sun
thawed it ; but later on we got to sounder ground
and enjoyed our ride immensely. We soon came to
the Diban or Wolf Hills, and sure enough the first
thing we saw was a wolf. Wilfrid fired a long
shot at him as he ran up the steep side of the hill,
•and then got off his mare and left her with me
while he tried a stalk, for the wolf had stopped
when he got to the top. Presently I heard four
rifle shots, and Wilfrid returned to tell me that he
had seen two Avolves just over the crest of the hill,
and that he had fired at them from about a
hundred yards off, while they ran baclvAvards and
foiwards trying to make out Avhere the bullets and
the noise came from. But every shot missed. The
woh'es, hoAA'evcr, had not gone far and Wilfrid
proposed riding after them. This Ave presently
did, and found them not a quarter of a mile from
the place Avhere they had been fired at, and less
than that distance from us. The country on the
top of the hills Avas a sort of table-land of fine

1 74 Bedoiiin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x..

gravel, and seemed inviting for a gallop. So we-
went after tlie wolves as fast as we conld lay legs-
to the ground. They started off when they saw ns,
hnt not fast, and looking constantly round over-
their shoulders as they went. As Ave rushed up to
them they separated, and the one Ave followed then.
galloped in earnest. Hagar was, of coiu'se, soon
far in front, skimming over the uncAmn ground like-
a SAvallow, while Tamarisk laboured with me in the-
rear. I thought the wolf must have been over-
taken, as he Avas only twenty yards in front of
Wilfrid, when suddenly, in crossing a ravine,
Hagar was up to her knees in the soft ground and
almost on her head. The rain and snoAV had
undermined the soil, and after struggling a yard or
two Wilfrid pulled his mare up, firing a parting
shot hoAvever at the wolf, Avho SAverved as it struck
him ; but the charge being only of Ho. 5 shot did
not seriously impede his progress. In another
second he had disappeared over the brow. This;
chase, though unsuccessful, Avas great fun, and it
was curious to get so near a aucav of a Avild beast
like this. I shall never forget the expression of
the Avolf’s face as he looked round at us OA'er his-
shoulder.

We saAV scAmral more Avohms in the course of thn
day, one especially, AA'hich Avas so much occupied
watching the proceedings of a flock of sheep that
he alloAved us to come Avithin seAmnty yards of him,
sitting doAAm as AAm Avere approaching, and scratcliing

WOLF COUlllSE NEAll JLU-MADY.

CH. X.]

Ferry-boat on the Euphrates.

175

his ear with his hind foot just like a dog. Then
he got up leisurely and trotted oh up a ravine,
where we had no chance of following him.

About two o’clock we came to the river, here
again fringed with tamarisks and with a prickly
brushwood called sirr. Some francolins, too, got
up, the first we have seen since Abu-Kamal, and
while Wilfrid was looking for these he shot a
jackal, which jumped up from under his feet. At
the river we found the ferry-boat, which was to
convey us at last across the Euplirates, for we are
now in the latitude of Bagdad, and have only forty
miles more to go, across the narrowest part of
Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and the
Tigris. While waiting for the boat, the caravan
came up, reminding us of the Arabic proverb,
“ Late and early meet at the ferry.” The ladies
in the litter here got doAvn for the first time, except
at night, dining the whole journey. They are
very amiable and polite to me; but as they talk
no Arabic, and I no Turkish, we don’t get on far
together. They seem, as far as I can gather, to
have got nsed to their journey, and I expect will
be rather sorry to go back to the stupid life of the
harem in Bagdad. They may even some day
regret the old mule and the panniers which helped
them to see something at least of tlic world. Their
dress is a sort of red and ivhitc calico sack, a black
cotton veil and European boots ; and when set
down on the river’s bank to ivait for the boat, they

1 76 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

looked just like a pair of bags witli sometliing alive
tied up in them. The crossing was, I thought, a
rather dangerous proceeding, as we were closely
crammed, horses, mules, donkeys and all, the
katterjis insisting upon jumping heast after beast,
in, long after the boat looked as if it could not hold
another creature. What with waiting and unload-
ing the mules, and then getting the baggage stowed,
we were quite two hours at the river side. The
crossing itself occupied twenty-five minutes, and
after all some of the baggage was left behind and
did not reach us till late at night. Poor Saadun,
the katterji, had managed to fall into the river.

We have encamped in a delightful spot, a hollow
grown all round with sirr. We have seen a
large herd of mid boar close by, and Wilfrid is
away getting francolins for dinner. It is a very
cold night, but still, and there will be a hard
frost before momiag. The name of this place is
Seglawieh.

Sunday., February 10. — Indeed it ivas cold. Here
in latitude 34°, and no more than a couple of
hundred feet above the sea level, — only forty miles
from Bagdad, the city of the simoom and the
j)lague, — a pail of water set inside our tent froze
till it was hard as iron, and the tent itself hung
stiff and rigid as a board. Wilfrid’s beard, too,
was hanging in icicles. Where, then, shall chilly
people go in search of climate ?

This morning our new sergeant of police

€H. X.]

In Mesopotamia.

1/7

announced his intention of returning home. I
think the hardships of a night’s watching in the
chol (desert) had been too much for him ; and
perhaps he reasoned that a backshish would equally
be forthcoming, whether he went to Bagdad or
turned back here. But in this he Avas mistaken,
for Aye dismissed him empty handed. By this time
we are heartily sick of zaptiehs, soldiers, mndirs,
and all the representatiyes of constituted gOA^em-
ment in this country, and are resolyed to haye no
more to do Ayith them. So, telling all Ayho liked
to go home, we started Ayithout more ceremony,
and Ayere soon rid of all our tormentors but one,
Ayho, I suj)pose, has come on to get the sealed
paper AA^hich is necessary to proye that the escoi't
has fulfilled its duty. Our day’s ride Ayas only
the more pleasant. It lay oyer a series of loAy
undidating doAAms of A'ery fine graA’el thickly
interspersed Ayith grass. On these Aye found
seA^eral small herds of gazelles, and once Aye put
up a hare. But Aye are too anxious noAy to get
on to care for sport. "VYe hoped to see the minarets
of Bagdad before night. It Ayas certainly an
agreeable bit of country, in spite of the line of
telegraph posts AA'hich crosses it and tries to giA'o
it a cocloiey look. Xo special incident occurred,
but we enjoyed the sunshine AAdiich came out and
warmed us through, and Aye had more than one
gallop OA'cr delightful riding ground.

It Ayas still early in the afternoon Ayhcn Aye came to

VOL. I.

1 78 Bedotlin Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. x.

a lake covered witlL a mass of water birds, pelicans,
dncks, storks, and presently afterwards to a large camp
of what I suppose were at last real Bedouins. At
least, they had camels round them as well as sheep,
and each tent had its spear stuck in the ground
before it. On inquiry we found them to be Zoba
Arabs, either allies or tributaries of the Shammar,
and come lately from the South. We would
willingly have pitched our tents Avith them, but it
Avas still early, and Ave were foolish enough to
believe the tale of our sole remaining zaptieh, Avho
assured us that the Sheykh of the tribe Avas but an
hour’s journey further on and not far from the
ToAA^er of ISTimroud, which Ave could already see
peeping over the horizon. So instead of stopping
Ave Avent on, and of course fared Averse. In the
first place, Ave have missed this, orm first opportunity
of seeing something really Bedouin, and next, Ave
haA'e had after all to encamp by the tents of a A^ery
loAV tribe, AAdiich calls itself Amr or Abu-Amr.
But first Ave had a long ride of four hours instead
of one, and then only accidentally hit upon our
present hosts.

On leaAung the lake, our course turned a little
to the left, in order to aAmid some SAAwmpy ground
AAdiich has made the regular track impassable. In
front of us Avas a long line of Ioav hills, which on
reaching them we discoA^ercd to be a double line
of artificial mounds, just like those Ave saAV thi'ee
days ago, and Ave suspect that they haA’e something

CH. X.]

A Fellah Tribe of Irak.

179

to do with ancient Bahylon. We passed tlirougli
one great square space inclosed by these — it might
be a couple of square miles — as if it had been a
to'^’u. Who knows ? Not the zaptieh, and there
was nobody else to ask. Our patience was nearly
exhausted when we again caught sight of the
tower, and just before dark came upon some Arabs
on donkeys, who told us the Amr camp was near
at hand; so we cantered on, and at last have got
to it. The place is called Hurnabat. It is a very
dirty camp, and the people are rude and noisy,
But of course the Sheykh, a little old man in
rags and with a face like a ferret, lias received us
with such hospitality as he can show. Only he
seems to have no sort of authority over his people,
who come and go in his tent, and who asked
Wilfrid rude questions, as to the number of his
wives, and TLlnna and Mahmoud as rude ones
about their religious tenets.

These Amr are evidently very low Arabs, far worse
behaved than any we have come across on our road,
and we wish we had stayed by the lake with the
respectable looking Zoba, but it is too late noAV to
regret our mistake. Fortunately, Avhen Ave had
been half an hour in the old man’s tent, AAdiose
name is Ilassan, Avith a young bidl tied up in one
corner and a rough looking mare in the other, a
A’ery respectably dressed Arab arrived and sat doAAoi
l)eside us. lie seemed to have some autliority over
the rest, and at first avo tliought he AA'as a stranger,

i8o Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. x.

especially wlien, after a little conversation, he told
us he was an Anazeh of the Ainard,t tribe. "We
were very much astonished at this ; and he then
explained that he Avas the head Sheykh of all these
Amr, and that his grandfather had left his OAvn
people and settled here as an independent Sheykh,
He certainly is quite different from all the other
people, as, besides being well dressed, he has a well-
bred look and excellent manners. But Ave cannot
understand Avhy he has fallen foul of Mahmoud
about his religion. Tliis Sheykh Mohammed, while
AA'e Avere talking, suddenly got up on to his knees
and began saying his prayers and, Avhen he had
finished, cross-questioned our Mahmoud on his
reasons for not doing so too, and frightened him
out of his Avits. The people all seem religious
here, old Hassan saying his prayers outside in a
loud voice, interrupted noAV and then by shouting
at a mare or donkey, or thi’OAving his stick at
a COAV.*

With us the Sheykh is A^ery friendly. We
asked to have our dinner in our oaa'u tent, so as to
be out of the noise, and he came afterAAurds and
smoked a cigarette Avith us. Wilfrid gaAm him a
tobacco bag, Avhich he fancied, but Avhich he made
a great difficulty about accepting, insisting that if

* The half-reclaimed tribes about Bagdad are often fanatical
Shias (the Mahometan sect of Persia) while the townspeople are
mostly Sunis, the true Bedouins being nothing at all. Turks,
aaptiehs, and people from Aleppo would naturally be SCmi. This
Sheykh was no doubt a Shia.

CH. X.]

Tlie Tower of Babel.

iSr

Jie did .&o it was on the understanding that he was
to be considered as a brother. His oAvn tent, he
tells us, is a few miles further on, and he is on his
way, “ on business,” to Euniady, and is to start
Tery early to-morrow, as he does not wish to pass
the Zoba tents by daylight. They are his
■enemies.

February 11. — ^We did not bargain at all for such
a day as this has been, when we started this morn-
ing from the Ann’ camp at Hiirnabat. We had
sent on our baggage, and intended, after visiting
the Tower of Nimroud which was close by, to
gallop all the way to Bagdad without stopping, as
our mares were still fresh. But the weather dis-
230sed of us differently. The Tower of Himroud, as
the Arabs call it, or Akha Kuf as it is Avi’itten on
the maps, is the traditional tower of Babel, though
modern -writers have transferred its site elseAvhere.
As seen from the Amr camp, about a mile off, it
W’as very like the tojo of Mount Cervin, and hardly
seemed a building at all ; but as we got nearer Ave
could see it Avas built of bricks. It seems to bo
solid ; and one cannot conceive any j>ossible use it
can haA’e been of, except, as the Bible says, to reach
to heaven. It only goes a short Avay on the road
to heaven noAV, being four or five hundred feet
high, including the mound of ruins on AA’liich it
stands. It has nothing noble about it but its size,
and scrAus only as a gigantic dove-cote for the blue
rock pigeons AAdiich arc so common cveryAvhere

1 82 Bedouin Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. x.

about. We walked round it, and picked up some
bits of blue pottery, and then rode on. The weather
looked thi-eatening, and I did not stop to take a
sketch ; but no doubt it has been drawn and described
before.

The rain began to fall as we left the tower, and
we went at a good pace to catch up the caravan,
but that was just all we cordd do before the ground
became so slippery from the wet, that our mares could
scarcely any longer keep on their legs, even at a walk.
This is the alluvial soil of Irak we have heard so
much of, rich perhaps, but very dkty travelling in
Avet Aveather. From the ToAver of Himrdud Ave had
already caught sight of the minarets of Kasmeyn, a
faubourg of Bagdad, and of the palm groAm which
borders the city ; and Ave thought to get there in
tAVO or three hours at most, but first there Avas an
overfioAv^ed lake to go round, and then this horrible
mud to fiounder through, so that more than once we
Avere in despair of getting in at all. We could not
IcaA"© the caraA'an, because there Avere places AAdiere
bridges had broken doAvn to be got over, and sloping
banks as slippery as ice to climb along, and the
mules Avere sliding about and tumbling doAAm every
minute. At last Ave came to a place that seemed
quite hopeless, as there Avas a long sort of arrete,
like the crest I have heard described of Monte Eosa,
to creep along, AAuth an apparently bottomless pool
of stagnant water on either side. We dismounted,
aud with great care got our mares across, and then

CH. X.]

A Siotigh of Despond.

iS-

slid them witli all four feet together to the bottom
of the hank ; hut the baggage mules, heavily lacleu
as they were, came to the most dreadful grief, aud
the katterjis seemed inclined to give the matter up
altogether. "Wilfrid, however, managed at last, hy
wading tlmough the mnd, to rescue the animals, and
then had the baggage carried across and reloaded
on the other side. This took a long while, and as
it was raining still in torrents, Ave soon had not a
dry rag left on us. In the middle of it all, arrived
the unfortunate Turkish ladies in their panniers, and
AA’hen they came to the “ mal paso,” themnle, AAdiich
^ras an old and sagacious brute, refused to adA’ance
another yard. So the poor Avomen, Avho had put on
their best clothes to come smartly into Bagdad Avith,
Avere bundled out into the mud, and had to trudge
in their beautiful European hoots across the slnsh,
and then sit in the rain till the mule could he per-
suaded to folloAV. We had no time to AA’ait to see
hoAV they got out of their difficulties, and I liaA’c a
forlorn recollection of them huddled up under the
mud hank, — clnmsy and absurd figures, a pitiful
sight, Avith their AATctchcd hedahhlcd silk goAA'iis
clinging to them.

In the meantime, although cheered somcAA'hat hy
the misfortunes of our neighhours, aa"c A\"cro suftcring
not a little onrselves, Avct as avo Avcrc and chilled to
the marroAV of onr hones. It Avas Averse than CA"cn
our entrance into Aleppo ; the Avind Avas more search-
ing, and Ave thought bitterly of the tracts of burn-

184 Bedouin Tribes of the Eitphrates. [ch. x.

ing sand in wliich Bagdad is popularly supposed to
stand. At last the city of the Caliphs loomed
thi’ough the driving rain, a grimy and squalid line
of mud houses rising out of a sea of mud. Even
the palm groves looked draggled, and the Tigris
had that hopeless look a river puts on in the rain.

Crouched on our mares’ necks, a mere mass of mire
from head to foot, and followed feebly on foot by
our single zaptieh, whose horse had slipped up with
him and fallen heavily on his rider’s leg, we entered
the historical city and inquired timidly for the
British residency, the house of the Consul-General.
At first nobody moved or answered, but after much
asking, we found a young soldier at a cofiee shop,
who engaged for a recompense to show us the way.
First he took us to a khan, where we were to leave
our mares, — for we should have to cross the river, and
the bridge was shut, — a wretched yard where we tied
the poor creatures up in the still pouring rain. Then
we follow'ed our guide to the river, got into a giifa^
or circular boat, something like a washing-tub, and
were ferried across, and at last, after what seemed
an interminable trudge along a narrow cut-throat-
looking lane, found ourselves at the door of the
residency. Here all our troubles are over for the
present, and we are sitting clothed and in our right
minds close to a table spread with a table-cloth and
decked with knives and forks. There are flowers
on it and fruit, and on the sideboard I can see a
ham. Servants of Indian type and clothed in white

€H. X.]

Colonel Nixon's Dining-room.

185

are running in and out. In a word we are in
Colonel Nixon’s dining-room, and ready I am quite
sme both of us for all the good things he can pos-
sibly propose to set before us. There is food, too,
for the mind, hungry for news from Europe : — “ The
Eussians are at the gates of Constantinople. An
armistice is ah'eady signed, and nearly the whole of
European Turkey has been ceded to Eussia. — Mr.
Gladstone’s windows broken in London. — Yictor
Emmanuel and his Holiness dead at Eome.”

CHAPTER XI.

“ I had furnished myself with letters to a rich merchant of Bagdad.”

Aeabiajs" Nights.

Modern Bagdad a poor place — Causes of its decay — The Plague —
Midhat Pasha takes down its walls and lets in a Deluge —
Dr. Colville’s view of the Bedouins — An Indian Prince — Akif
Pasha’s fortune — His stud — We buy asses and camels, and
plan an evasion.

Bagdad, in spite of its ancient name and of its
Caliphs and Calenders so familiar in our ears, is
hardly now an interesting city.’ Compared with
Damascus or Aleppo it wants individual character,
while Cah’o twenty years ago must have been far
more quaint and attractive. I suppose, if we had
entered it from the north and by the river, we
should have been differently impressed from now,
coming as we have from the west, where there is
nothing in the approach to give one the idea of a
great city. The walls have been pulled doAvn, and
one enters by scrambling over the mounds of
rubbish where they once stood, and then crossing
an intermediate space of broken ground, given over
to dogs and jackals and gradually abandoned by
the town as it has shrunk back from its old cii’cuit,

CH. XI.]

The Capital of the Caliphs.

187

like a witliered nut inside its shell. One sees at
once that Bagdad is a city long past its prime, a
lean and slippered pantaloon, its hose a world too
■wdde for its shrunk shanks. Within, there is little
to remind one of the days of its greatness. The
houses are low and mean and built of mud, and the
streets narrow and unpaved as those of any Meso-
potamian village. There are no open spaces, or
fountains, or large mosques, or imposing buildings.
The minarets are feAV and of inconsiderable height,
and the bazaars without life or sign of prosperity.
Xo caravans crowd the gates, and hardly a camel
is to be met with in the streets. The rich merchant,
like the Caliph, the Calender and all the rest, seems,
to have disappeared. I don’t know how it is, but
these signs of decay affect me disagreeably. Bag-
dad has no right to be anything but prosperous,
and stripped of its wealth is uninteresting, a colour-
less Eastern town and nothing more.

The feature of Bagdad is of course the river, the
Tigris, on wliieh it stands, and that is still beautiful.
On either bank, above and below the town, there
is a dense grove of palm trees with gardens under
them, making an agreeable approach for travellers
who come by water, and setting off the yellow
mud houses to their best advantage. Some of
these are picturesquely built and cheerful enough,
with bits of terrace and orange trees in front of
them, but they are pretty rather than imposing,
and there is an entire absence of really largo

1 88 Bedouin Tribes of tlie Euphrates, [ch. xi.

buildings or even of important groups of houses,
while the flatness of the hanks and the want of
streets leading down to the river prevent one’s
getting any idea of the depth of the city beyond.
The Tigris itself is a noble river, flowing at this
time of year in a rapid turbid stream and mth a
breadth of perhaps three hundred yards. The
houses come close down to the water’s edge, and
there are boats and barges on it, giving it altogether
£L rather gay appearance, but there are no bridges
but a single one of boats, which most of the time
we have been here has been taken away in antici-
pation of a flood.

By far the pleasantest place in Bagdad is the
British Eesidency, a beautiful old house built round
two large courtyards and having a long frontage to
the river. There is a delightful terrace over-
looking the water, with an alley of old orange trees
and a kiosque or summer-house and steps, leading
down to a little quay where the consular boats are
moored. Inside, the house is decorated in the
Persian taste of the last century, one of the most
elaborate and charming styles ever invented, with
deep fretted ceilings, walls panelled in minute
cabinet work, sometimes inlaid with looking-glass,
sometimes richly gilt. Only the dining-room is
studiously English, in deference to Anglo-Indian
prejudice, — its decorations, apparently fresh from
Maple’s, forming a theme for admiration for the
Bagdadis who come to pay their respects to Her

CH. XI.]

Hospitality in Bagdad.

189’

Majesty’s Consul-General. Colonel Xixon is hospi-
tality itself, and his doors seem always ajar to
take in imfortunate strangers like ourselves, arriving
grimed and weather worn in an otherwise inhospit-
able city. For there is nothing as yet in Bagdad
approaching in character to an imi, not even a
house of entertainment on so poor a scale as the
lokanda at Aleppo. As for the Idians, they are-
mere empty barracks, providing nothing but a roof
for the traveller and standing room for liis beast.
Here then in the Eesidency we have been living
for the better part of a fortnight in absolute repose,
and enjoying the good things of civilisation, as-
only those can who have been travelling many
days in heathendom and sleeping many nights upon
the ground.

Colonel Hixon has given us much valuable
information about the population, history, and
general affans of the town, some of which, at the
risk of being dull, I think I ought to put down.
It appears that Bagdad is in fact a decrepit, even a
dying place, and that its decline, which began long
ago, has quite lately become alarmingly rapid. Its
first misfortune was its taking by the Tartars in tlie
13th century,* the time when so many great cities

* Marco Polo describes the taking of ‘‘Paudac,” as he writes
it, by the “grand Sire des Tartares qui Alau avait nom.” He
gives a minute account of the death of the last Arabian caliph
which put into modern Prench runs as follows : “ Quand il I’eut
prise, il trouva une tour, appartenant au calife, toute pleine d’or
et d’argent, et d’autres richesses, en si grande quantite que jamais

190 Bedouin Tribes of the Eupbirates. [ch. xi.

in this part of Asia perished ; the next, its capture
hy the Tnrks a hnndred years later, and then
another siege a hundred years after that. This
seems to have ended its political importance, and
about the same time its commerce began to decline.
Like Aleppo and Scanderoon, it was half ruined by
the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope, which took
away its Indian trade, and now of late years the
establishment of a line of steamers, from Bombay to
the Persian Gulf, has deprived it of nearly all that
remained. The great Asiatic caravans have finally
disappeared from the gates and caravanserais of
Bagdad, and are poorly represented by a home
traffic of corn to Syria and of cotton goods from
Manchester taken in exchange. How trifling that

on n’en vit tant rassemble en un seul lieu. A la vue de ce tresor
il fut tout emerveille, et fit venir devant lui le calife, et lui dit :
‘ Calife, pourquoi as-tu amasse un si grand tresor ? Que veux-tu
en faire? Ne sayais-tu pas que j’etais ton ennemi, et que je
marchais centre toi pour te d^truire ? Et quand tu I’as ajipris,
pourquoi ne t’es-tu pas servi de ce tresor et ne I’as-tu pas donne
a des chevaliers et a des soldats pour te defendre, toi et la
cite ? ’ Le calife se taisait, ne sachant que dire. Alau reprit :
‘ Calife, puisque je yois que tu aimes tant ton tresor, je vais te
donner le tien a manger.’ II fit done prendre le calife et le fit
mettre dans la tour du tresor en defendant de rien lui donner a
manger ni a boire ; puis il lui dit : ‘ Or 9a, calife, mange de ton
tresor tant que tu voudras, car jamais tu ne mangeras autre chose.’
Et il le laissa dans cette tour, ou il mourut au bout de quatre jours.
Il aurait done mieux vain pour le calife donner son tresor a des
hommes qui eussent defendu son royaume et sa personne que de
se laisser prendre et mourir desherite. Ce fut le dernier des
califes.” This was Mostasem Billah, the last of the Abasside
caliphs. He reigned from 1242 to 1258. Marco Polo dictated his
travels originally to Eustician of Pisa, who wrote them in pro-
vincial Ercnch. Charton, “ Yoyageurs anciens et modernes.”)

CH. XI.]

A Decaying City.

191

is -we can judge by tlie deserted state of the
Euphrates road. Already, the “ rich merchants ”
have fled from a city which can no longer support
them, and have set up shop at Bussora, which as a
seaport is destined to be the capital some day of this
part of the world. Even the Persian pilgrimage,
which brought so much wealth to Bagdad in former
days, has within the last few years, owing to the ill
feeling existing between the Sultan and the Shah,
been diverted to another route, so that nothing more
is wanted to kill her outright but the opening of the
Euphrates Yalley railroad, so long talked of, when
she would be left out of the track of trade to perish,
like all the great cities which have preceded her.*
It is melancholy to look down from the top of a
minaret, as Wilfrid did, and count the empty spaces
already existing inside her ancient walls. This
minaret, the name of which I forget, is the one from
which in former times criminals used to be thrown,
and it is tall enough to command a good view.
There are gaunt wildernesses in the heart of the
city, where rubbish is shot, and whore jackals slink
about even by daylight, and marshes which arc
forming here and there, through neglect in keeping
out the river. We put up a flight of teal, only two
days ago, within fifty yards of the mosque of Ali.
It requires little imagination to picture to oneself

Tlie recent sanitary measure of forbidding tlio passage of
Persian corpses through Bagdad on their wiiy to burial at the
tomb of Iluseyn has been equally unfortunate for the income of
the town. The Persians paid heavy transit fees for their dead.

192 Bedotdn Tribes of tJie Euphrates, [ch. xi..

the day when all shall he desolate, a shapeless mass
of barren monnds and heaps of crumbled brick.

Besides her loss of trade, Bagdad has been
desperately treated by the plague. Dr. Colville,
the resident physician here, has given me many
particulars on this subject, which I think will be-
new to people in England. The first great
visitation of this disease was in 1774, when, if we
can believe the records preserved at the Eesidency,
nearly the whole population of the city perished.
Tavo millions are said to have died here and at
Bussora, but that figure must, one would think,
include the province as well as the toAvms. Anyhow,
the population of Bagdad has never numbered more
than one hundred and fifty thousand souls since.
Thirty years later, in 1804, and again nearly thirty
years after that, the plague returned. In 1831,
one hundred thousand perished in the toAvn, and
the population is now stated at from eighty to a
hundred thousand in all. Of these eighteen
thousand are JeAVS, tAVO thousand Armenian
Christians, seven thousand Tiuks, Persians and
Indians, and the rest Mussulman Arabs. The
plague has existed more or less continually suice-
1867, much as small-pox exists in London. It is
felt most severely by the JeAVS, Avhose houses are-
over-croAvded and dirtily kej)t. Dr. Colville does-
not consider it a true epidemic, that is to say, a
disease communicated by the air, nor yet is it
infectious in the ordinary sense. He considers that

CH. XI.]

Statistics of the Plague.

193

it cannot be caught by passing or brushing against
infected people in the streets, as is commonly
supposed ; but that it attaches itself to houses and
districts. It would be very foolish to frequent a
p)lague-stricken house and dangeious to sleep in
one. It creeps from house to house, being intro-
duced into new ones by infected persons coming to
them. The dirtier the house the more liable it is
to the disease. For which reason, as I have said,
the Jewish quarter suffers generally more than the
rest. A European, living in a well-ordered house,
runs very little risk, unless the infection is brought
home by his servants. The Bedouins are entirely
free from it ; and in this the plague is in striking
contrast with the cholera, Avhich makes no distinction
between town and country. About fifty per cent,
of those attacked die. The plague first shows itself
by a little fever which continues for a couple of
days, and then by a glandular swelling on the groin
or armpit. Later by high fever, delirium, and
collapse. If the SAvelling suppurates, the patient
recoAmrs ; if not, on the fifth or sixth day he dies.
There is no known remedy; but, like many diseases,
Dr. Colville is of opinion that it is dying oiit.

Of other maladies Bagdad seems until qiiite
recently to have been singularly free.* Standing

* The Jewish community from its long isolation and the custom
of premature marriages is subject to heart disease and consumption,
the latter of which the Jews hold to be contagious. They are also
very short lived, but their indolent habits may account for much
of this.

VOL. I.

194 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphi'ates. [ch. xr.

in the middle of the desert it always enjoys pure
air, and, although the summer temperature * is
prodigiously high, is not subject to fevers or to
any other epidemic than cholera, which makes no
distinction between healthy and unhealthy sites.
Unfortunately, however, of late years the marshes
which have been forming round the town have
introduced ague along with other ill results ; but
this deserves a more particular account.

It would appear that, besides and beyond its
other misfortunes, Bagdad had the' ill luck a few
years since to pass through the hands of an im-
proving Pasha, Midhat, author of the famous con-
stitution of 1877, which is now regenerating Turkey.

That singularly unhappy statesman (unhappy, I
mean, in his plans) was sent by the Sultan Abdul
Aziz to try his prentice hand upon Bagdad, before
being alloAved his AAmy AAuth Constantinople and the
Empire. He was an honest man, by all accounts, and
sincerely anxious for his country’s good, but half
educated and belonging to that school of Turkish
politicians, which thinks to Europeanise the Empire
by adopting the dress and external forms of Europe.
He seems to have been alloAved almost unlimited
credit for improvement and full liberty in all his
schemes, nor can it be denied that some of them
were, in their design, excellent. Only he was

* Dr. Colville, wlio lias kept an accurate register.for several years,
informs me that he has seen the thermometer in the courtyard of
his house, a well protected 230sition, marking 122 degrees D.

CH. XI.]

Midhat Pasha at Bagdad.

195

incapable of working out the detail of what he
planned, or of at all counting the cost of each
adventure. They have consequently, one and all,
led only to the most impotent if not the most
disastrous conclusions. His first scheme was a
good one. He wished to establish communication
with Aleppo by the Euphrates, and in that view
built the forts we saw at Ana, Eumady and else-
where, to protect the road, while he ordered
steamers from England to navigate the river. The
forts, though unnecessarily large, answered their
ptu’pose and still exist ; the boats, with one
exception, have disappeared, either left to rot at
Eiissora or never fitted out with their engines.
The sole representative of the Euplnates fieet
draws too much water to ascend the river except
at fiood, and her regular trips were abandoned
almost as soon as begun. Midhat also established,
with some success, a tramway between Bagdad and
its suburb Kasmeyn, which still runs. So far so
good. But his next venture was not equally
reasonable ; indeed, it shows the unreality of his
claim to be considered a serious statesman. lie
had heard, or perhaps seen, that the fortifications of
Vienna and other toAvns in Europe had been pulled
dovm, to make room for the cities they enclosed
and which were outgrowing them; and, arguing
from this fact that all walls were out of date, ho
proceeded to level those of Bagdad. I dare say he
thought them unsightly and feared lest they sliould

196 Bedouin Tribes of tJie Euphrates, [oh. xi.

remind strangers of tlie dark age of the world,
before gunpowder and the Ottoman Empire were
invented, the age of Haroun al Eashid. He seems,
too, to have had a curious idea of occupying his
soldiers in this work and of paying them their
arrears in bricks, a rather unsaleable article, one
would think, in a country where little is built and
nothing at all mended. Be that as it may, the
walls of the Caliphate were “removed” and the city
left open to all who chose to enter, thieves, wolves
and Bedouins, for it is but a few years since
Bagdad was threatened with sack by the Shammar.
The townsmen protested, but the thing was done.
Bagdad is now as defenceless as any of the villages
near it.*

Hot content with this. Midhat conceived the
unfortunate thought of benefiting the whole country
by a huge canal, in imitation of the irrigating
works once fertilising Southern Mesopotamia.
Engineers were engaged, labour impressed, a special
tax for the cost levied, and Midhat himself, before
his term of office came to an end, had the satisfac-
tion of opening the new canal in person, after the
fashion of dignitaries in Europe. But, oh cruel
fate, at the first flooding of the river, instead of

* The old palace of Ctesiphon, one of the wonders of the world,
had almost shared the fate of the city walls when the foreign
oonsnls interfered. Midhat’s soldiers were alreadj^ at work. Yet
this is the representative of progress in Turkey, a man of letters,
who writes Trench and English well and contributed his paper
lately to the Fortnightly Review,

CH. XI.]

Midhat lets in the Dehige.

197

a beneficent stream to fertilise the thirsty earth,
behold it -was a deluge that entered. Midhat
Pasha with his spade let in the fiood and converted
Bagdad into an island, standing in a pestilential
marsh and obliged at certain seasons to communicate
with the outer world by means of boats. This was
enough. The Porte saw the necessity of his recall,
and entrusted him instead with the reorganization
of the Empire. Yet, such is the power of virtue,
Midliat has left behind him not altogether an evil
name even in Bagdad. They narrate of him still
that he Avent aAA'ay Avithout a shilling hi his pocket
and left his Avatch in paAvn for the sum necessary
to hh’e his horses for the journey. An honest
man, in a land of dishonesty ; an enthusiast, in
fact, not a knaA'e.

Of course our first thought, on arriving at Bag-
dad, Avas hoAV to get out of it. We had no sooner
changed our AA’^et clothes and eaten our dinner, than
we broached the subject of our further progress to
Colonel Xixon, explaining that Ave had come to
Bagdad not to amuse ourselves or to see sights, but
in order to get introductions to the Shammar and
be passed on to them Aiith as little delay as pos-
sible. Our host readily agreed to all our plans,
though he did not profess to knoAV so much, about
the Bedouins as the difference between Shammar
and Anazeh ; and he most kindly offered to take
Wilfrid to call upon Akif Pasha, the Valy, and
promised to further our project in any Avay that Ave

1 98 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xi.

should suggest. In the meanwhile we conld not
do better than stay on in the Eesidency, and take
full benefit of our rest, until all should be ready for
a new start. To this we agreed, and it was settled
that Wilfrid should himself open the subject of our
future movements to the Pasha, as soon as he should
be received in audience. It was most fortunate,
however, that for some reason or other this was put
ofi till the third day after om’ arrival, and by that
time Wilfrid had reconsidered matters and made
up his mind to dispense altogether with the Pasha’s
help. I am sra*e this is a wise resolntion.

Dr. Colville has been of immense service to us in
all our arrangements and enters most cordially into
our plans, only laughing a little at us for what he
calls our romantic ideas abont the Bedouins. If we
are to believe him, there are no such things as
Bedouins anywhere nearer than Central Arabia,
the Anazeh and Shammar having long ago given in
their submission to the Government and settled down
quietly as cultivators of the soil. He knows Per-
han, Sheykh of the Shammar, Hassar, Sheykh of the
Montefik, and Abd ul Wehsin, Sheykh of the Ibn
Haddal, of whom the two first are Pashas, and all
three are in league with the Government of Bag-
dad. Of Jedaan he has heard nothing, nor of any
independent Anazeh, while Abd ul Kerim, the
romantic Shammar hero, is only remembered here
as a robber who was caught and hanged at Mdsul
some years ago. He had never heard of Paris

■CH. XI.] An Indian Prince at Bagdad.

199

till we mentioned him, and protests that we shall
see nothing hy going to him that we could not see
ten times better with the Mdntefik. He took us,
however, to call upon an Indian Hawah residing
here, Ahmet Aga, a friend of his, who he believed
knew something of the people we were in search
of. I will describe our visit as I wrote it down at
the time :

“ February 13. — Ahmet Aga has a pretty house
upon the river bank, nearly opposite the Eesidency,
and we were taken there this morning by Dr. Col-
ville in one of the Comet’s"^’ boats. The Hawdb
received ns on the roof, which is used as a sort of
ante-room, and to which one ascends by an outer
staircase, and then conducted us with much cere-
mony to a drawing-room on the same level, which,
wuth another room where the ladies of his estab-
lishment live, forms an upper story to part of the
house. Here we found two little boys, his sons,
who seemed to be eleven and twelve years old,
though we have been told that they are really
■older, dressed in tight-waisted frock coats, and
wearing gold embroidered caps on their heads, and
polished boots on their feet. They looked very
shy, but had good manners. These children, it
presently appeared, were married about a month
ago to two little girls still younger than them-
selves, cousins of their own and great heiresses.

* The Comet, a Government despatch boat, attached to the
Residency,

200 Bedouin Tribes of the EtLphrates. [oh. xr.

They presently came in, shyer even than their
little husbands and, one would have supposed, only
old enough to he just out of the nursery, although
really ten and thu’teen years of age. The yormger
especially was very pretty. They were dressed
alike, in long green dresses brocaded with gold,
with gold belts, gold earrings, tiaras of moderately
good diamonds, and new nose rings. Their nostrils,
poor things, had just been bored for the wedding,
and still looked uncomfortable. These little ghis
invited me to come into the inner room, to pay their
mother-in-law a visit. The Begum, it was ex-
plained, did not appear in the front room when
men were present. So, while Wilfrid and Dr.
Colville stayed talking to Ahmet Aga, I had to
make polite speeches to the lady in Arabic, which
she did not understand, and listen to her Hindu-
stani answers, still less understood by me. As a
refuge from the awkwardness of this sort of con-
versation, a draught-board was produced, and I was
set down to play a game Avith the Begum, a task
AAdiich I hope I performed Avithout betraying my
Aveariness.

“Meanwhile, Wilfrid and Dr. ColAulle had been
more agreeably occupied in seeing the HaAvab’s
stud, and he has some really good horses, the best
Ave have seen at Bagdad. When I joined them
they Avere looking at a chestnut mare, which had
belonged to Abd ul Kerim, a Kehiileh Mes&neh,
nearly fifteen hands high, and they told us tAveHe

(JH. XI.] I Relate a Tale 0/ Aid tU Kerim. 20 1

years old. I was interested in her on account of
her former master, and began asking questions
about her history and the way she had come into
Ahmet Aga’s possession. Suddenly Dr. Colyille
said, ‘Here is a man who can tell you all about
her,’ and pointed to a grave-looking Arab who
was standing by. He told me she was the mare
Abd ul Kerim had been riding, when he was be-
trayed by Kasser, Sheykh of the Montefik ; and it
then turned out that this man was a Shammar and
a servant of Kaif ibn Faris, the very person, it
would seem, we have been wanting. Here was a
wonderful stroke of good fortune, and it was soon
agreed that the Arab, Koman, should come and speak
to us privately in the afternoon, and perhaps he would
liimself take us to his master. Of course it would be
easy to get passed on from Half to his father Faris.

“ I liked the Shammar’ s face, and while we were
looking at the chestnut mare, I could not help
asking him whether he kneAV the story of Abd
ul K^rim and the Avhite mare he sent to J edaan.
‘Wallah,’ he said, ‘I remember that,’ and I
thought his eyes filled with tears, as well they
might, considering what a hero Abd ul Kerim
was with his people, and how tragical his ending.
The Kawdb Ahmet Aga, too, is a friend of Kaif’s,
and will give us a letter to him. So Wilfrid has
decided to say nothing about onr journey to Akif
Pasha, and to get ready to start with Kai’f’s servant
as soon as ever the latter’s business at Dagdad

202 Bedotlin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. xi.

shall be finished. This sounds exceedingly simple,
and we shall be independent then of soldiers, police,
Pashas and all. The first thing is to get camels ;
and here Dr. Colville promises to help us, although
he tells us it is not the custom to buy but to hu’e,
and that just now there are no camels nearer than
those we saw with the Zoba. But he has a friend,
a Christian merchant, who employs the Agheyl
largely in his commercial business, and who will
get us what we want, as well as a couple of trusty
men to go with ns as camel drivers. This merchant
is under obligations to the Doctor, who saved the
life of his only son last year, so that he will do all
in his power to get what we want. Things are thus
suddenly arranging themselves delightfully for ns,
without any trouble.”

On the day after this visit "Wilfrid called, with
Colonel N’ixon, on the Valy and was of course
graciously received. Akif Pasha, the same who
armed the Mahometans of Sofia at the outbreak of
the Bulgarian massacres, is a Turk of the old school,
and talks no language but his own. The conversa-
tion was therefore carried on tluongh an interpreter,
and went little further than the usual compliments,
but Wilfrid describes the Pasha as a man of polite
manners and apparent amiability. What little
talking there was turned upon horses, of which Akif
possesses the finest stud that has been got together
in Bagdad for a great number of years. iSTeither he,
nor for the matter of that anyone else in Bagdad,

CH. XT.]

How to amass a Fortune.

203

seems to have the least knowledge of the science of
horse-hreedmg as professed in the desert, and the
mistakes they make when they talk abont the
breeds are, to us who know, exceedingly ludicrous.
I heard the other day a mare talked of as a
“ Kehileh Jedrdn,” and the Pasha’s favourite at
present, it appears, is a “ Kehileh Simri ” ! Akif
has the reputation of being the most corrupt Pasha
that ever ruled in Bagdad, but this is saying a
great deal. He has been only eight months in
office, yet, according to common report, he has
already amassed £50,000 in money, besides jewelry,
horses and much other wealth in kind. Let us
hope that the sum is exaggerated. It is difficult
all the same to believe that the sixty or seventy
Arabians, which compose his stud, have been bought
and paid for out of the income of the Yaly’s office.
Indeed, I doubt extremely whether, if he should by
any accident hear that I have written this, Akif
Pasha would not take what I am saying as a com-
pliment. The Turks do not connect any dishonour-
able idea with the acceptance of presents by men in
office. They hold it to be part of their salary, just
as our servants in England do the commissions they
receive from tradesmen in return for patronage.
The offer of a bribe, in Turkey, would hardly be
resented as an insult, even by the most prudish
official, Avhilc ninety-nine out of a hundred of the
men in power look to such offerings as proper
tokens of respect from inferiors to their superior.

204 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xi.

To come to a Paslia for justice with “nothing in
your hand” would he to treat him cavalierly,
and would imply that you thought hut little of
his power to help you ; and it is difficult to decide,
whether morality is less outraged hy the acceptance
of these things, without corresponding return made,
or hy loyally according support, as modern etiquette
prescribes, to whoever brings most. Still there are
certain limits to the amount of plunder allowed by
public opinion, and Akif would seem to have passed
these, for the people he is governing complain. It
is said that the new treasm’er of the mosque of
Huseyn, at Meshid Ali, had to bring £10,000 to the
Serai before being installed, and that every other
official act or appointment, requu’ing the Yaly’s
signature, has been taxed on the same scale ; but
after all, it is probably the Government at Constan-
tinople which has really contributed the bulk of His
Excellency’s income.

In return for Wilfrid’s visit, Akif sent his
secretary, Mr. Eeubeniram, with a polite message,
begging that we would do him the honour of
inspecting his stud, and, this being reputed so
fine a collection, we readily accepted the invi-
tation. Mr. Eeubeniram is an Armenian of most
polite manners and a Parisian education. He
speaks French rather better than we do, and is most
amiable in his attentions and desme to please. He
had got ready for us a kiosque, improvised for the
Shah of Persia on one of his visits to Bagdad, in the

cH. XI.] A Morning at the Valy s Stables. 205

garden of the Serai and close to the Valy’s stahles.
There, sitting in state npon gilt ram chairs, we spent
a A'eiy agreeable morning, while the horses and
mares were paraded before us. There were fifty or
sixty of them in all, fat and heantifnlly groomed,
each led by its attendant — a really charming sight.
They were brought out half a dozen at a time
and marched past us in procession, each animal
stopping to he shown ofi and to exhibit its merits.
The Yaly’s grooms were much more expert at this
than the Bedouins and country people, who had
hitherto brought us horses to look at; and I am
bound to say that a better looking collection could
hardly have been imagined. We were asked to
point out those which pleased us most, and for
a moment we were afraid that Mr. Eeubeniram was
gomg to press them on our acceptance, according to
Oriental custom, as a present, but before long
it appeared that a more business-like transaction
was in view, and that the Yaly, who had just been
recalled to Constantinople, is anxious to dispose of
them either separately or ‘‘ en bloc,” and at a
“ terrible sacrifice.” We had been so imprudently
enthusiastic in our comments that, although wo
knew very Avell that none or almost none of the
animals Ave had seen Avere likely to be tlioroughbrcd,
and that at best we could have no sort of guarantee
of their breeding, avo felt obliged to go through the
form of inquiring about a fine black marc standing
nearly fifteen hands tAvo inches, AA'hich seemed the

2o6 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xi.

handsomest of the lot. Mr. Eenheniram promised
that we should have all particulars sent to us, as he
himself was not up in the pedigrees of the stud, and
the grooms contradicted each other in the statements
they made — thoiigh “ Seglawi Jedrdn ” seems to be
the usual answer made to all inquiries at Bagdad
about breed. The fact is, the Bagdadis affect to
despise distinctions in breeding, their ovti stock
having long ago been crossed with the Persian and
Turcoman breeds, for the sake of increased size,
required by the English market in India. The
present Bagdad horse, or Irdki as he is called, is a
tall, powerful animal with a handsome crest and fine
carriage, but, to eyes accustomed to the Anazeh type,
wants distinction. As a cavalry horse or for parade
pm-poses, he is perhaps quite as useful as his better
bred predecessor, but is far inferior to him in speed
and quality. The best horses seen in Bagdad come
generally from the Ibn Haddal and pass there
as thoroughbred Anazehs, although it is well known
in the desert that the Ibn Haddal, from their
intercourse with Bagdad, have adopted many of the
tricks of the trade not tolerated by the rest of their
brethren. A few, and these are probably of pm’e
breeding, have been brought in by the Shammar,
but the rest come from the Mdntefik, the Delim,
and other semi-fellahin tribes of the lower Euphrates,
if not bred in Irdk itself.

The Valy’s answer was characteristic, and relieved
us from any further anxiety in the matter of our

on- XI.]

Akif Pasha sells his Shtd.

207

pm-eliase. The mare, he informed ns, was from
IS'asser, Sheykh of the Mdntefik, and belonged to a
celebrated breed laiown among the Bedouins as
“ Xehiilan el Ajuz es Simri ” ; which was much as
if in selling a flock of sheep, their owner should
describe them as being of the ‘‘Eambonillet Leicester
Southdown ” breed. Her price was £300.

Tavo days later, Akif’s stud Avas sent to the
hammer and fetched prices varying from £50 to
£80, but I believe the greater part of the horses
Avere bought in. There Avere hardly any bidders. A
little Ab^yeh Sherrak, of Avhose breeding there AA^as
some eA’idence, as she had been sent by Ferhun,
Sheykh of the Shammar, to Akif’s predecessor, avo
should probably haA’e purchased but for her colour,
grey, which Ave do not like. A very handsome
mottled grey, fourteen hands tAvo inches, Avent for
£50. He AAWS the pick of the lot. Horses are
A^ery cheap in Bagdad just noAV, an ordinary animal,
young and sound, fetching not more than £10.
Mahmoud, the zaptieh Avho came AAuth ns from
Deyr, took back Avith him a four-year- old of A'cry
respectable appearance, for Avhich he only gave
scA'en Turkish pounds. These, hoAA^ever, are of
course Jcadislies though far better bred than their
representatives at Aleppo and in the north, but it
is useless to look for really thoroughbred horses at
Bagdad.

I fear Ave haA'C been very remiss in our sight-
seeing, and noAv Ave are going aAA'ay from Bagdad

2o8 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xi.

without having heen inside a single mosque, or
having visited the site of Babylon, or made any
other of the picnic excursions in the neighbourhood,
except to Ctesiphon. But everybody has described
that, so I forbear. The Tak-i-Kesra is the finest
ruin I ever saw. ISTo — all oim time and thoughts
have heen employed on more practical matters —
the details of our uoav joiirney. We are going,
now, into a quite unlmoAvn country, of which even
Dr. Colville can tell us nothing, and Avhere there
are no villages or guard houses, or markets of any
sort to supply our commissariat. Everything will
have to he carried with us, bread, rice, coffee, sugar
and tobacco, the last Dvo to give away. We have
also been purchasing more mashlahs, or cloaks, the
conventional robes of honour, with which it is
customary to invest the great men of the desert
whom one wishes to propitiate, and red boots for
their retainers. ISTovni and Shakouri, Dr. Colville’s
Christian friends, have been as good as their Avords
in the matter of the camels, and Wilfrid has seen
and approved the beasts they have had brought in
from the country, fom' fine young camels, capitally
matched and said to be fast walkers, at £10 a-piece,
and a delul, or she-dromedary, for occasional use
in relieving Hagar of part of her duties. She is
priced at sixteen shillings less than the camels, but
Wilfrid thinks she will turn out as Av^ell as any of
them.

Besides these, we haA^e purchased a Avhite ass for

CH. XI.]

Hdnna and his White Ass.

209

Hanna, wlio, as he will have to cany the cooking-
pots and a certain amount of provisions with him,
must be well mounted. She is four years old, and
stands about twelve and a half hands, walks at
a prodigious pace and is Avarranted not to stumble.
For a beast of this merit Ave are supposed to have
bought her cheap at ^61 6. Hanna is of course as
proud as Punch at the thought of riding a white
donkey, which at Aleppo is considered the ne plus
ultra of fashion, being indeed the way of going
abroad reserved for Pashas, Imams, and the richest
of rich merchants. These donkeys are bred in
el Hasa, on the south-western shore of the Persian
Gulf, and are brought to market at Queyt. They
sometimes fetch as much as £40 a-piece, their
A'alue depending on their size, pace, and above all
sureness of foot, for many of them stumble. A she
donkey Avill fetch nearly a third more than her
brother ass, because he is likely to prove a nuisance
AA’ith his braying.

In all other respects Ave are starting, rather like
babes in the Avood, on an adA'enture AA'hose import-
ance we are unable to rate. It may be perfectly
easy, as Wilfrid thinks, and it may be as dangerous
as others avouIcI have us believe. We have after
all got nobody going Avith us Avho knoAvs anything
of the Shammar or of the road more than a foAV
miles out of Bagdad. Our Shammar friend,
Homan, Haif’s servant, has turned out to be a
humbug if not an actual rogue. When it came to

VOL. I.

210 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xi.

really treating Avith liim and settling matters in
black and white, he backed ont of it, asking the
absurd price of £20 for his services, and, moreover,
to be paid in advance. This was as much as
admitting that he was not what he had represented
himself to be. Either he is not E’aif’s servant at
all, or he could not guarantee our safety to his
master* We cannot make out what Earis’s posi-
tion really is. At Deyr we heard of him as quite
a young man and on ill terms with his brother
Ferhan. Here they talk of his having a son of
twenty-five, and will not admit that there are any
dissensions among the Shammar. But we shall
see. On the other hand, we have secured the
services of a couple of Agheyl as camel men, at the
very moderate rate of sixteen shillings a-month,
engaging to keep them two months and to pay
half in advance. This we have readily agreed to,
as all Agheyl are honest men ; at least such is the
popular belief.

We have said nothing to anybody, except Colonel
Mxon, Dr. Colville and one other person of Avhere
we are going; and Mr. Eeubeniram is under the
impression that a shooting excursion to Babylon is
contemplated. The one other is a distinguished
personage and necessary to our plan. He is the
good old Hawab Ikbalet Ddwlah, formerly King of
Oude, and now living in exile at Bagdad. With
him we have made great friends, and he is to aid
in our plan of evasion by inviting us to his country

CH. XI.]

A Project of Evasion.

21 I

house at Kasmeyn, whence, without any ceremony
or asking leave of Pasha, secretary or chief of
police, we shall slip away into the desert and trust
to Providence for the rest.

CHAPTER XII.

“ II finissait a peine de parler, que les principaux habitants du village, reunis cbez
lui pour nous voir, commencerent a nous raconter des bistoires effrayantes. L’un
nous dit qu’un colporteur, venant d’Alep et allant au desert, avait ete depouille par
les Bedouins, et qu’on I’avait vu repasser tout nu. Un autre avait appris qu’un
marcband, parti de Damas, avait ete tu6. Tons etaient d’accord sur I’impossibilite
de penetrer parmi les hordes de Bedouins, et cherchaient, par tons les moyens pos-
sibles, a nous detourner d’une aussi perilleuse entreprise. Je voyais M. Lascaris se
troubler ; il se tourna vers moi, et me dit en italien, pour n’etre pas compris des
autres personnes, “Cosa ditedi questanovita,chemihamolto scoraggiato? ” — “ Je ne
crois pas,” lui repondis-je, “ a toutes ces histoires ; et, quand meme elles seraient
vraies, il faudrait encore perseverer dans notre projet.”

Recit de Fatalla-Sayeghir, quoted by Lamaetine, Voyage en Orient.

The King of Oude and his “ Desert-house ” — We are sent away
with gifts — The Mesopotamian desert — Pleasures of freedom —
How to navigate the desert — Alarms and false alarms — Stalk-
ing a wolf — We reach the Shammar.

Kasmeyn, Felruary 24. — ^Bagdad is an abode of
political exiles from. India, Mussulmans who dis-
like living under Christian rule, and who have
settled here as the nearest place of refuge in Islam.
Their position is a pleasant one, for they enjoy the
double advantage of religious agreement with the
Bagdadis and of foreign protection as British
subjects. Many of them are very well off, living
on the revenues of their lands in India, and a few
are on excellent terms Avith the Consul General.
Of these the most remarkable, by his birth, his
Avealth, and still more by the dignity of his private

CH. XII.]

Visz^ to a Great Man.

character, is the Xawab Ikhalet Dowlah, the dis-
possessed and pensioned king of Oude. With him
Ave are now staying, at his “desert-house” near
Kasmeyn, the first step on our journey northAvards.
I hardly knoAV hoAV to speak of the XaAA^b AvithoAit
seeming to say too much. He is an old man noAV
and a philosoj)her, and he Avould not care to haA^e
his good deeds paraded, and yet I camiot help
recording what I feel about him, that, little as he
afiects the character of ex-king, he is the most
trnly dignified personage I ever met. In manner
and Avay of living he is A^ery simple, liaAing some-
thing of the Eedouin contempt for appearances,
along with the more real absence of pretension of a
Avell-bred Englishman of fifty years ago. He has
travelled much and seen much, and understands
the Eiu’ojpean Avay of thinking as well as that
of eastern people, having besides considerable
originality of his OAAm independent of any school
of ideas. In conversation he is most agreeable,
constantly surprising one Avith unexpected turns of
thought and noAV Avays of saying things, and, if aa'G
had been able to understand him better, I am sure
Ave should have foimd him full of the best sort of
Avit. He is besides a kind and charitable man. His
position in Eagdad is a great one, so great, from a
moral point of vioAV, that it may Avell console him
for the loss of his former sovereignty and the
splendours of his court at LucknoAV. Here at
Eagdad he has real poAver, the poAA'cr of doing

214 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xn.

good, and real freedom to say what he thinks right
to consuls, pashas, doctors of divinity and all alike,
down to the poor Bedouins who live at his gates.
I fancy his advice is asked on most of the political
difficulties of the Serai, where his knowledge of
men and cities, so essential a part of wisdom in the
East, and his wit in expressing his ideas, enable
him to speak ■without offence more truth than is
often heard in those high places. The consequence
of this is that his name is a power in Bagdad, and
that he has made himself friends in all classes of
society. Amongst the rest, Ferhdn, the Shammar
Chief, is his sworn ally ; and, whenever the Sheykh
comes to to'wn, it is to the house of his brother the
Malek el Hind, or King of India, as the Arabs call
the Kawab. This circumstance is most fortunate
for our plans, as now we shall start for the desert
with letters of recommendation, which ought to
give us the best possible reception there.

The “ desert-house,” where we are enjoying so
pleasant and so unceremonious a hospitality, is one
of the many owned by the Kawdb in and about
Bagdad. It stands quite alone, in the barren plain
which smTOunds the town, and is about half a mile
distant from the mosque of Kasmeyn. The towns-
people, who are very timorous about venturing out-
side the city at night, think the Kawab foolhardy
in the extreme to live in such a spot ; but to him,
as to us, the isolation of the house is its principal
charm. He generally, however, lives in Bagdad,

-CH. XII.]

The Nawdb's Desert-house.

215

l)ut comes here from time to time to make a retreat,
partly philosopliical, partly religious, among the
ulemas and doctors of theology of Kasmeyn, for
the mosque is a sanctuary and place of repute
among pious shfahs.

The house itself is as original as its situation,
and was built from the Xawab’s own designs. It
is constructed like a fortress, with high walls and a
single entrance, a very necessary precaution against
common robbers as Avell as marauders from the
desert. Above, on the upper story, the rooms are
placed, some vith the windows facing outwards,
after the fasliion of Turkish rather than of Arab
buildings, others looking on to a terrace, over
which there is yet a second story. The entrance
is tlu'ough a courtyard, with stables on either side
and dovecotes inhabited by thousands of white
pigeons. The ground-floor is merely a basement,
and stone steps lead up from the court to the apart-
ments. These consist mainly of small rooms,
furnished with carpets only ; but the drawing-
room is large, and is so peculiar that I have made
a plan of it. Its shape is that of a cross, each of
the tlu'ee shorter ends being occupied by a window,
so that the upper half of the room is almost a
lantern. The recesses arc flllcd uj) Avith broad
diA'ans, on Avhich it is pleasant to sit and look at the
A'icAV. On one side is the Mosque of Kasmeyn,
Avith its golden cupola and four minarets, em-
boAA'ered in palms ; on the other the desert Avith its

2i6 Bedouin Tribes of the Eti-phrates. [cn. xn.

immense horizon, broken only by the far-away
tower of K’emroucb The sun is setting nearly
behind this, and all the desert is painted a heantifid
pink colour, the dome of the mosque being quite
ablaze. It is a most agreeable prospect, giving
promise of fine weather for to-morrow’s start.

"VYe came to-day from Bagdad, riding quietly
out at about two o’clock, and leaving the camels to
follow us with Hanna and a cavass, lent us by
Colonel Hixon, so as not to provoke any inquiries
as to our journey. We have not said a word to
any one of where we are going, beyond Kasmeyn,
and are starting without even a buyuruldi, the
customary permission of travelling in the province;
but to-morrow we hope to be out of the reach of
questions, and to-night the Hawab’s house is a
sanctuary no zaptieh would dare invade.

Nine d’cloeJc. — There are a few families of a very
low tribe of Arabs, encamped quite close to the
house, the Chakukh, a fraction of the Butta tribe,
some of whom we have already made acquaintance
with at Ctesiphon. They are living in temporary
huts, built of tall reeds from the Khor or lake,
which encloses this side of Bagdad, and roofed Avith
the ordinary tenting, so that their abodes pretty
closely indicate the life they lead, half settled, half
nomadic. They have a ferv sheep and goats, Avhich
they pasture by the Iflior. After dinner this
evening, the Nawab sent for some of these Arabs
to sing and dance before ris, a performance wliich I

cH. XII.] We are sent away with Gifts.

217

could willingly liave dispensed Avith. The music
consisted of a di’uni and a double pipe, eight inches
long, and sounding in its best, the deepest, notes
rather like a hautboy, the upper notes being out of
tune and bad, while some double notes, fifths and
sixths, Ayere better. The voices Avere very bad
indeed. As to the dancing the less said about it
the better, and Ave Avere A^ery glad when it Avas at
an end and the NaAvab, Avho had sat through it all
absolutely unmoving except Avhen he fingered his
rosary, bade them be ofi. The Arabs around
Bagdad are probably as Ioav and degraded a set as
can be found anyAvhere in Arabia, having been
corrupted by the neighbourhood of this old city of
pleasure, or I am sure such an exliibition could not
have been produced.

This over, the iN’aAvdb made us an afiecting speech
of farewell, AATote AA’ith his OAvn hand the letter he
had promised us for Ferhan, and added a basket of
oranges and pomegranates, to gwe him AAuth it.
Then he had another huge basket brought, con-
taining provisions for ourselves, and a thuxl Avhich
he filled himself with cakes, macaroons, preserves
and fruit from the dinner-table, and aii earthen
bottle to hold Avater, and then, before I could take
breath from surprise, a beautiful Persian rug “to
put on my dromedary,” and a little silver boAvl to
drink out of, AA^henever I should come to a fountain,
pretty gifts in themselves and doubly so from the
AA'ay in Avhich they Avere given. It Avas impossible

2i8 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xn.

to refuse or be otliemuse than delighted to accept
them. I^ow for a last sleep under a roof, and to-
morrow at dajdDreak for the desert.

Monday., February 25. — ^We got away from the
Nawab’s house only a little after sunrise, and at
first folloAved the caravan road which goes to Hitt,
our host and Dr. Colville riding a mile or so with
us on our way, and giving us a few last words of
encouragement and advice. It was a delicious
morning, clear and bright, and the soil of the
desert sparkled under our feet as if it had been
stre^vn with salt, wliile a light wind from the north-
W'est blew freshly in our faces. We were in high
spirits, as was natural, for what can be more physi-
cally delightful than a ride on such a morning, or
what more inspiiiting than the thought of being
fairly away upon an adventurous journey ! — and
this time I think we may consider ours a serious
one. To say nothing of the dangers, in 'which we
only half believe, there are all sorts of uncer-
tainties before us, from the fact that we are enter-
ing an unkno'wn land. Mesopotamia, at least this
j)art of it, has never, as far as I know, been crossed
by aj European in its whole breadth, or in modem
times even by a townsman from Bagdad or Aleppo ;
and the desert south of the Sinjar hills is quite new
ground. It is there that Ave shall have to go, if Ave
want to find Earis and the independent Shammar, —
and Avho knoAVS Avhat adventures may befall us on
the road ? At any rate, Ave shall be left entirely to

CH. XII.]

Once mo7'e in tJie Desert.

219

our oAvn resources no-vr till we get to Deyr, a
journey of nearly 400 miles, for we shall not meet
with a village or even a house in the whole distance,
except perhaj)s Telau't, on the fourth or fifth day
from this. Colonel Chesney’s survey is our only
guide ; and, hut for a ruin or two marked near the
river, and such remarks as “ horsemen seen on this
hill,” “ large herds of gazelles,” or “a newly-made
grave,” on Lieutenant Fitzjanies’s route in 1830,
and on that of the Expedition returning in 1837,
the whole of the map north of Bagdad is a blank
space, Oim plan of campaign is this : we are to
take a straight line north-north-west, for fifty or
sixty miles, till we hit a bend of the Tigris ; then
follow the right hank of the river for ninety or a
hundred more, as far as Sherghat, the head-quarters
of Ferhdn, the Shammar chief. There we are to
deliver the Xawdh’s letter, and get him to send us
on to Faris, wherever Faris may be. From Sher-
ghtlt to Deyr it is about a hundred and sixty-five
miles as the crow flies, but if, as is probable, we
have to go as far north as the Sinjar hills, our
journey will he considerably longer. The chief
difficulty seems to me to be in getting from Ferhan
to Faris, for, in spite of what they say at Bagdad,
it is impossible the two brothers can he on very
good terms. However, the thing must be done by
hook or by crook, and we must be at Deyr to
meet Mr. S. on the 15th of March, for this is a
liositivc engagement.

2 20 Bedouin Tribes of tJie Euphrates, [on. xn.

As to the danger of meeting ghazus, the only
real risk we run, Wilfrid and I have had a serious
conversation, for it is well to be prepared with a
plan before the thing happens. We ourselves are
so well armed that, though the rest of the party
cannot be expected to help us much, we ought
not to be afraid of less than fifteen or twenty
men. The Bedouins are only armed with the
lance, and their pistols, by all accounts, never
go off, so that Wilfrid’s double-barrelled gun and
the Winchester rifie, which fires fourteen shots
without reloading, ought to make us far stronger
than any small party of Arabs. We are, therefore,
to hold our ground and trust to their beuig too
prudent to push us to extremities. If, however,
we meet a large party, such as, it seems, sometimes
goes about, of fifty or a hundred horsemen, it will be
no use fighting ; and then, if they refuse to listen to
terms of capitulation, we shall have to abandon
the camels and baggage to their fate, and trust to
our mares to carry us out of the difficulty. We
are well mounted, and onght not to be overtaken
easily. At the Avorst, according to every account,
there is no fear of being personally ill-treated,
for the Arabs only care about plimder, and the
utmost misfortune that could happen to us, if cap-
tured, would be to be stripped of some of our
clothes, and left to find our way on foot to the
nearest inhabited place ; not a cheerful prospect
certainly, but still not altogether desperate.

CH. sii.] . Plans for Defence and Flight.

221

I do not tliink, tliough sometimes I feel nervous
about it, that we really run much risk of meeting any-
body evilly inclined. In the first place we have the
ISTaAvab’s letter, which, though they could not read
it, the Shammar would probably respect, and in the
next we know how Jedaan and the Anazeh are
engaged at present, and how little time they can
have to spare for expeditions of this sort in eastern
Mesopotamia. Hanna and the rest of the people
with us are, of course, timorous, and talk inces-
santly of these ghaziis, but fortunately they have no
property of their own Avith them, except the clothes
they stand up in, and they knoAv that if they lost
these Ave should give them ncAV ones instead.
Hanna, I am bound to say, puts an excellent
face on the matter, and has full faith in the Beg
and in Divine Providence. Ali, the caA'ass, is a
fat Bagdadi, who has to be helped up on to his
horse, and does not impress us faAmurably as a
practical traA^eller, but he seems good-humoured
and Avilling to do his duty. The other tAvo members
of our party, the Agheyl, are honest, hard-plodding
felloAVS, who Avork cheerfully and take great care of
the camels, but Ave can hardly judge correctly about
any one of them as yet. The camels arc capital
AAulkers, doing their three miles in the hour, a A^cry
unusual pace, and Wilfrid is especially pleased Avith
his dcliil. lie mounted it to-day for tlu' first time,
and intends to keep Ilagar as fresh as may be for
the accidents of sport or war.

222 Bedotun Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xh.

A couple of hours after leaying Kasmeyn, we
stopped at an inlet of the Khor, to let our beasts
drink, and to fill the water skins. Then, leaving
the caravan road which here takes a turn westwards,
we struck out across the plain, going in a straight
line north-north- west, with only the sun to give us
ovu' direction. In this way we travelled on all the
morning, watching onr horses’ shadows as they
crept round from the near to the oft side, and not
stopping even for a minute. "We were still on the
alluvial soil of Babylonia, which at this time of
year is more bare than the desert itself, the only
vegetation being a dry prickly shrub called aghul,
which the camels snatched at greedily as they went
along. The ground was full of deep cracks, Avhich
made it rather dangerous going for horses, and,
relying on this perhaps, gazelles are to be found
here very plentifully. We saw a good many during
the morning, but did not give chase. Every two or
three miles we came to long double lines of mounds,
the remains of former canals. These have all the
appearance of natural hills, and rise to a height of
twenty or thirty feet above the level of the plain.
We put up numerous flocks of larks, and Wilfrid
shot a N’orfolk plover, but other-wise there was not
much life on the plain. Once or twice Ave came
across small parties of Simmfin Arabs, wnth
donkeys, bringing in fireAVOod. This they told
us was shok ; the word merely means “thorn,” I
believe it was camel-thoru.. It groAVS in large

CH. xn.] The Pleaszti'es of F7'eedom. 223

bushes anti bnrnSj like all desert slmibs, as well
green as dry.

About midday Aye came to graA'^elly soil and more
undulating ground, the edge of the real desert. The
camels were very hungry, not having had a proper
meal yesterday, for they Avill not eat corn, and
the country round the iN’awab’s house is as bare of
all pastiu-e as a turnjAike road. We accordingly
ordered a sloAver pace and allowed them to feed as
they went, and at three o’clock, coming to a place
where there is some grass and a pool of rain Avater,
we haA'e stopped. There are some tents about a
mile from us belonging to the Meshaabe, a half-
pastoral, half -fellah tribe, harmless good people Avho
haA'e brought us milk, not as a matter of hospitality,
but “ minshan Axis” (for money). We haA^e only
come about sixteen miles to-day, but I am tired,
I suppose from the change of life to our traA^elling
rations, after the four fxxll daily meals of the Eesi-
deney. Wilfritl is perfectly happy, being once
more “ in his oaati tent,” and having, besides, his
OAATi camels noAV and his oaati seiwants, and no
guards or policemen to A’ex him. Those, AA’ho haA’e
Ih’ed all their lives in Euroj)e, don’t knoAA’ Avhat a
luxury it is to feel oneself “ fi-ee from the police.”

Fehruary 26. — Wilfrid has had to speak seriously
to Ali, who seems inclined to require more Avaiting
upon than Ave can spare him. lie is very fat, and
really has some difficulty in climbing into his saddle,
but it is necessary he should understand that the

2 24 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. xit.

Aglieyl cannot be called away, from their business
of driving the camels, every time he wants to get off
or on his horse, nor made to tap the water-skin for
him every time he feels thirsty. The fact is, every
one of ns has quite enough work to do, and we
cannot afford to have idle hands in the caravan.
This little matter settled, all has gone on well, and
we have made a good march to-day of twenty-seven
miles, according to Wilfrid’s dead reckoning. At
starting, we passed through the Meshaabe camp, and
stopped at the principal tent, to ask a few questions
and drinlc some fresh goat’s milk. A building three
or four miles off to the east they say is the Khan
Suadiyeh, on the old caravan road to Tekrit. The
Meshaabe, lilce all the other small tribes, have no
camels, only sheep and goats, and some of them
cultivate land near the Tigris. They are reckoned
at a thousand tents, according to our Aghcyl
Nejran, who puts the Butta at half that number.

We kept the same course to-day as yesterday,
north-north-west, crossing tracts of fine gravel in
some places, and in others of alluvial soil, with
numerous Babylonian mounds and canals. The
whole district is in fact Cut into regular squares by
them, so that one travels with the feeling of being
in an enclosed country. It is all desolate enough
now, inhabited only by gazelles, of which we saw
great numbers, and by birds of prey. We passed
close to a pau’ of fine golden eagles sitting on one
of the mounds. In one place, where there was a little

CH. XII.]

False Alainns.

225

pasture and shok bushes, we found a pit dug as a
hiding-place for gazelle hunters, but except this
there was no trace of inliabitalits.

We had seen nobody all the morning, when about
noon we suddenly became aware of some horsemen,
bearing down upon us. We could see the points of
their spears glittering in the sun, and as they were
evidently coming up at a gallop, Wilfrid ordered
a halt. There were four of them, and when they
came within half a mile of us they stopped and
dismounted, waiting, I suppose, for others to come
up. Two or three more straggled in, and then
they cantered up together towards us. Wilfrid,
who had been riding the deliil, now mounted his
mare, and went to meet them with Ali and Xejran,
while I stayed mth the camels. I soon saw that
it was all right, for the men dismounted, and the
whole party came on together talking and laughing.
It was a false alarm. They were not Bedouins at
all, but a party of Government people, who had
been out collecting taxes from the shepherds of the
district, levying, they told us, half a beshlik, five-
pence, on each sheep or goat. They had with them
a man on a mule, who was making his way to
Samdra, a village beyond the Tigris, and who,
hearing Ave were going more or less in that direc-
tion, tacked himself on to our party Avhen the rest
went aAvay, as they presently did, after the usual
amount of talking. Talking is a pleasure no Arab,
whether from toAATi or country, ever neglects an

226 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xn.

occasion to indulge in. We did not want tlie man’s
company, but there was no getting rid of him, as it
seems to be a sacred privilege in the East to join
company with anybody you may meet on the road.
“ The more the merrier ” is a proverb all accept.
So he followed us.

A little further on, on some higher ground, we
came to several people wandering about on foot,
apparently with no object but that of examining
the ground and stopping now and then, as if
to pick up ■ a stone. We found on inquiry
that they were hunting for the white truffles,
kemeyeh, which I have already mentioned, and
which are very common here. These people
belonged to Sum^ycheh, a small village, the palm-
trees of which they pointed out to us far away on
the horizon to our right. It stands on a sort of
side channel of the Tigris. The Agheyl were
anxious to go towards these trees, though out of our
course, for they do not at all approve of our way of
going in a straight line and keeping in the open
desert, and they have all along shown an inclina-
tion, if I may use a sea phrase, to “ hug the shore.”

Wilfrid when he is on his deliil is obliged to keep
with the camels, and then I have to ride in front
and give the direction. This requires a good deal
of attention in a country where there are so few
landmarks, but it is not really difflcult as long as
there is sun or wind to go by. The shadow of one’s
horse’s neck makes an excellent dial, and, with a

CH. XII.]

We travel by the Stm.

227

little practice, it is easy to calculate tke rate at
which it ought to move round, so that the course
should be a straight one. The wind, too, in this
country almost always blows north-west, and does
not shift about in the plain, as it would among hiUs.
Wilfrid has made so many journeys now without
guides that he at least feels quite at home in the
desert, and I, though my experience is more limited
than his, have seen enough to know that one is far
less likely to lose one’s way there than elsewhere.
The weald of Sussex is ten times more puzzling to
get across.

Early in the afternoon, we came to an immense
double row of mounds, rnnning in an absolutely
straight line north-north- west. This is by far the
largest Babylonian canal we have yet seen, and we
are surprised to find no mention of it on our map,
as it is a considerable feature in the landscape, and
no doubt comes from the Tigris. The Agheyl and
the man on the mule call it Cherrisdda. There are
groups of mounds here and there in its neighbour-
hood, showing where villages once stood, and in one
place we came upon a perfect square which may
have been a fortress. In deference to the entreaties
of the Agheyl, backed up as they Averc by the man
on the mule, Ave altered our course a little and
folloAVcd the line of the canal. This led us to
loAver ground, on the edge of Avhich aa'o have
encamped, not more than a mile from a Inihhr or
tomb, Avhich Eerhan recognises as a landmark he

2 28 Bedouin Tribes of the Ettphrates. [ch. xn.

lias seen before and calls Abu el Mehasin. About
two miles off to the east, we can see some tents, and
Ali has been dispatched ivith the dehil to see if
water can be got, or milk or eggs. The man on
the mule, who, by the way, was kicked off and
hurt this afternoon, says that Jisr Harba is only
three miles from the canal ; this fixes onr position, .
as “ Harber bridge ” is marked on Chesney’s
map.

This is ideal camping ground, a beautiful hollow,
full of good grass and, shok bushes, where the mares
are feeding, while the camels find pasturage they
like better on the upper ground. Our tents are
pitched on gravel, and we have no neighbours to
bore ns. One of the charms of tent life is the
feeling of absolute ownership one has in each spot
of ground one camps on — ^the right to do precisely
all one likes with it, to cut down, dig up, or leave
alone, without permission of any landlord or liahility
to land-tax, tithe, rating, or other burden, such as
limits every form of ownership in England. Here
it is absolute and complete, even to the closing up
of rights of way, for one is at liberty to treat all
comers, if one likes, as enemies, and to bid them
be off. Hot that at present we have hostile feelings
towards anyone. Only it is nice to think that even
the keeping of the peace depends on our good will
and pleasure, not on the law of the land. Liberty,
in spite of the crimes of nonsensical talk which
have been committed in its name, is the greatest

CH. XII.]

Desert Navigation.

229

of all blessings, and in its perfect form is not to
be found in Europe.

Ali has come back with water and other good
things, and has brought a couple of Arabs with
him (Kasarej, they call themselves), who confirm
the man on the mule about the position of Jisr
Harba. They talk of their tribe having twenty
thousand tents ; but that of course is nonsense.
Xejran says, however, that they are more numerous
than the Bntta or Meshtiabe. All these tribes are
alike, half shepherds, half ploughmen. The Kasarej
have some fields beloAV us, irrigated from the “ little
Tigris,” and I can hear a faint quacking of ducks,
which proves that water is not far ofl:. A square
tell (mound) about two miles west of us is Abu
Easeyu.

February 27. — Another good day’s march has
brought us to the Tigris. We lost time, however,
by listening to the man on the mule yesterday, for
in order to cross a branch of the Cherrisada canal
called Ferhatyeh, about which there would have
been no sort of difficulty where we first came upon it,
we had this morning to go a considerable way round.
The Kasarej still make use of this canal for some
miles of its course, and the ditch (it was no more)
was just too wide for the camels, though of course
our mares hopped over it without difficulty. After
that, the piloting of the caravan was very trouble-
some and reminded Wilfrid, he said, of riding a
horse Avhich bores towards one side. Evei'y moment

230 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xn.

that our attention was taken ofl; their movements,
we found that the camels had been headed away
to the right, and we had to go back and insist on
their following us. The Agheyl and the man on
the mule could not understand how we should
know anything about the direction, and maintained
that we Avere going aAvay from the river “ into the
Jezireh, into the Choi,” they said, and pnt an
accent of terror into the words. It was, therefore,
no little triumph Avhen, about one o’clock, a speck
appeared on the horizon exactly in front of us,
which the man on the mule admitted was the tower
of Samara. It seemed at first but a very feAV
miles ofi, but turned out to be at least fifteen or
sixteen, as it stands on high ground and is a very
lofty building. It is on the other side of the
Tigris. Presently afteiw^ards, we passed some tents,
where there were a mare and foal, and riding up to
them, we found their owners were Deli'm. We were
surprised to find any of this tribe so far from their
head-quarters, the Euphrates, but they told us they
came across the Jezlreh every year. With this
exception, we met nobody all day, but saw numbers
of gazelles and bnstards, also two foxes almost
white. Most of our journey was over the gravelly
desert. About midday, we crossed another long
line of mounds, Avhere we stopped to let the camels
feed, as there was eshubb (camomile), which the
Agheyl declare is “as barley ” to camels.

As we came nearer the toAver of Samara, we saw

€H. XII.]

A Deserted City.

231

several other large huildings, apparently ruins, at
different points to the right of it. In fact the left
bank of the Tigris, opposite ■where we now are,
seems to be an immense cemetery of cities, extend-
ing for many miles. These would be most interest-
ing to visit, but we cannot get the camels across
the river, and we dare not leave them unprotected.
We console ourselves with the conviction that these
sites have all, no doubt, been thoroughly explored.
The names given them by the Arabs here are
Jadsieh, Gayim, Melwieh, el Ashid, none of them
inhabited, mere “beyiit kadim,” they say con-
temptuously, “ruins.” Only one old town is
foimd on the right bank of the river, Istabilat,
which Wilfrid thinks must be Greek. We rode
through it, as it lay in our way, and a very
interesting place we thought it. It is laid out in
squares, with a fine street fifty yards broad do’wn
the middle, and the houses, though all of them in
ruins, are still standing. They are built of good
brick, as is the city wall in a fairly perfect state,
fiankcd with round toAvers. In the evening light
the place looked almost as if still inhabited, and it
is much more attractive than the tiresome liaby-
lonian mounds. A canal passes right through the
toAAm, and the buttresses of a bridge over it can
still be seen. It is dry now and half filled up.

A broad caravan road, apparently long disused,
led from the gate of the toAvn to the north-
Avest. FolloAving this avc came rather suddenly on

232 Bedoitm Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xn.

the Tigris, which here makes a fine sweep close
under a steep cliff. "We were some time looking
for a way down this, as we thought it wonld he
pleasant to camp near the river, hut at last we found
a very nice place, about half way from the top, for
the tents, and a passage for the nnladen camels
douTi to the tamarisk beds below. The Tigris is
here an exact reprodnction of the Euplmates, only
that its valley is not on so imposing a scale. The
volume of the two rivers I should say was about
equal, hut the Tigris strikes me as being the more
rapid. It is called hi Arabic Dijleli, the Euplirates
Fratt.

The Arabs here belong to the Jemaa tribe.
They have a story of about twenty of their sheep
having been driven off three days ago by some men
from the Delim, the same I suppose as those we
passed this morning. They talk a good deal about
ghazus from the Anazeh, and I suppose it is for
this reason that they are encamped in the tama-
risk woods. There are francolins again here and
pigeons and wild boars and jackals, so that, if one
were to turn oneself three times ronnd, as children
say at blind man’s buff, one might fancy oneself on
the Euphrates. The place at which we have en-
camped is called Sheriet el Ghazal.

February 28. — We were disturbed about mid-
night by a cry of thieves. Our own mares, who
sleep with their noses in onr tent, were safe
enough, and the camels were squatting composedly

CII. XII.]

Horse Stealers.

in a circle outside tliem, but Ali’s horse was gone.
This horse, I must say, has been the greatest pos-
sible nuisance to us from the day we left Bagdad,
fidgetting and neighing and breaking loose night
after night, so that our sympathy with his dis-
appearance was not altogether unmixed, but there
was not long cause for sorrow. Our position, on
the ledge of the cliff, was one not over favourable for
a thief to get away from with his prize in the dark,
and after stumbling about and creeping with our
heads near the ground to get a sight of him against
the sky, we found the horse at the edge, over
which the thief, disturbed by our alarm, had no
doubt just slipped. It was not far to fall, and we
heard him scuttling away through the tamarisks
below. This put all the camp on the alert, and
most of the night was spent in talking and singing
to show Ave Avere aAvake, Ferhan keeping it up long
after the rest had dozed off again, by Avhistling a
long plaintive note like a marmot’s.

The sun rose red and threateniag from behind a
thick bank of clouds, and just as the camels avctc
loaded a gust of Avind from the south-east struck
them, Avdiich nearly tumbled them over the cliff and
sent the lighter luggage flying. The air became
full of sand, and a fcAV droi)S of rain fell, but
nothing came of it. Only the Avind continued.
Our roAitc to-day AA^as across part of the Tigris
valley, Avhcrc there Avas cultiA^ation in patches. We
marched sloAAdy, letting the camels feed as they

234 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphvates. [oh. xn.

went, and making the castle of el Ashid our point,
for we find that this is after all on the right hank
of the river. Samara, on the opposite hank, about
two miles from us, looked an interesting place with a
fine mosque, gilt like the mosque of Kasmeyn, and
two minarets (they say it is a “holy place”), while
the tower Avhich we had seen so long yesterday,
is really grand. Its height must he very great and
its construction is most peculiar, reminding one only
of pictures of the tower of Babel, which very likely
it originally suggested. It is round and tapers
gradually almost to a point, having a spiral stair-
case outside. It stands in an enclosure, with very
high walls which must be nearly half a mile square.
If we had not been afraid of getting into some
difficulty with the authorities residing there, we
should have tried to pay it a visit, as there must he
a ferry, though we did not see one, our man on the
mule having left us to go across.

Except this view of Samdra, and a singular rock
of conglomerate jutting out into the valley like a
bit of masonry, we passed nothing of interest till
we came to el Ashid, or as it is marked on the map
Kasr Bint el Khalifeh, the Castle of the Caliph’s
daughter. This is a most picturesque and interest-
ing ruin. It stands on a promontory of the cliff
and overlooks an immense length of river up and
down. It is square and, as we found, still suffi-
ciently well preserved to make us rather doubtful
how to ride our horses in over the crumbled walls.

CH. XII.]

Stalking a Wolf.

235

But a breach had been made on one side, and there
we got in. It was a more difficult matter to stay,
however, when we got there, for in such an exposed
place the wind nearly bleAV us aAvay. The castle is
built of burnt brick, and there are remains of rather
elaborate architectural mouldings in this material.
It is undoubtedly Saracenic. Wilfrid, while I tried
to make a sketch, managed to get a brace of par-
tridges and a pigeon, very much wanted for the pot.

Eain Avas noAV falling heavily, the first we have
had since Ave left Bagdad, for the AA^eather has
hitherto been quite hot, and Ave agreed to stop as
soon as Ave could find a sheltered place, although
Ave had only marched some tAvelve miles. There
is capital grass eA^eryAvhere. We are accordingly
encamped in a little side Amlley, AAdiere there is a
convenient screen from the Avind in the shape of a
loAV clifi, and Ave have changed our AA^et clothes and
a fire is lit, and dinner getting ready. It threatens
to be a Avild night, but AA^e hope the rain Avill keep
robbers away. We liaA^e arranged a cord round the
exposed side of the camp, to trip up intruders.

March I. — In the night the wind changed
suddenly round to the north-Avest again and nearly
blcAV the tents doAvn, bringing March in indeed
like a lion. It is bitterly cold, but the rain has
ceased. Wilfrid took some observations from the
cliff, and finds that El Ashid, Samara, and the
kubbr, Imdm Dur, Avhich is opposite us, arc all
marked Avrong on the map. Indeed, it is difficult

236 Bedoinn Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. xir.

to make out at all what Colonel Chesney can have
been thinking about here, for on the Euphrates he
was very accurate.

While we drank our coffee before starting, we
saw a wolf come over the brow of the hill behind us
and sit down very composedly to watch us. Wilfrid
determined on a stalk, and did so most successfully,
getting within twenty yards of him and shoothig him
through the heart. Only (I grieve to say it) the wolf
turned out to be a jackal. In the morning light he
had looked unnatmully large, and we had not been
able to see his tail, which is the only difference in
shape between the jackal and the wolf.

We have been much discomposed to-day by a
report we have heard repeated several times by
Arabs we have met, of a ghazu of seventy horse-
men, said to be Anazeh, which passed along here
yesterday. Very likely it is exaggerated; but
there must be some foundation for it, as the people
who told us were evidently alarmed, and it has
made us very cautious in keeping a good look-out.
Wilfrid and I ride on about a mile in front as
advanced guard, while Ali, w'ho has better eyes
than most of the people here, guards the rear. It
is curious how much nonsense is believed in Europe
about Arab eyesight, the fact being that it is not
particularly good. We always see things long
before the others do. To-day, for instance, we
caught sight of a wavering bit of light and shade,
much distorted by mirage, which we could see very

c:h. XII.]

Ghazni. Sto7'ies.

237

well was a distant range of hills, but which the
Agheyl declared were clouds. They are no doubt
the Hamrin hills, marked on the map as about fifty
miles from where we first saw them, and interesting ,
as becoming fmdher eastward the boundary between
Turkey and Persia. We made them out quite
distinctly by riding to the top of a tell.

We passed to-day through a camp of Snamra Arabs,
and at a little distance fiudher on we put uj) an im-
mense wild boar out of a patch of tamarisk and argal.
He trotted past quite close to me. Wilfrid shot
some franeolins and partridges and a hare, the first
we have got on the whole of our journey. Hanna’s
delight may be imagined. “We shall eat to-
night,” he said, “what would cost half a mejidid
at Aleppo,” — and half a mejidid to Hanna’s
economical mind is an enormous sum. The reports
about the ghazii have been conflicting, one man
telling ns it had gone on to Tekrit, another that it
had passed over the hills westwards, while half a
dozen villagers from Tekrit itself, which is not far
off, say that they have met nothing on the road,
and believe it was not a ghazii, but a band of
robbers. These would perhaps be more disagree-
able still to meet, but, please God, wo may yet
escape. Wilfrid has gone shooting in a wood of
argal, a thorny bush with green fleshy leaves,
which here takes the place of tamarisk. We are
encamped under a very fine cliff, witli plenty of
natural barley and rye for the mares and camels.

238 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xn.

and on this account have stopped early, after only
sixteen or seventeen miles’ march. Wilfrid’s hag
to-day is : — ^fonr francolins, five desert partridges,
one large red-legged partridge, two teal, one hare,
one jackal,

March 2. — We left the valley, and, climbing by
a rather steep track np the cliff, found ourselves at
once, as it were, in another world, the world of
the desert. This change was of course nothing
new, but it affects me as strange every time it
occurs, — ^the difierence which these few feet make
being so absolute. It was not long before we
caught sight of Tekrit, a miserable looking hamlet
something in the style of Deyr, but without even
a minaret, and we made a detour to avoid it, as we
are not in want of provisions and wish to see
nothing of mudirs, kaimakams, and zaptiehs. We
then crossed a road leading, Ferhan informed ns,
to Ana, but not used now, as there is “ Jchof’’’
(fear or danger). A little further on Hejrdn, who
happened to be some way in front, turned round
and called out that there were Bedouins commg.
The ground was undulatiag, and they were already
close to us before Ave saAV them ; but there was
nothing to fear. There were nine of them, mounted
on deluls, but unarmed, and they informed us they
Avere going to Tekrit on business from Ferhan ; still
they were the first Shammar Ave had seen, and we
looked at them Avith interest, almost Avith awe. They
had a rollicking, devil-may-care way of looking and

CH. XII.] We meet a band of Shamniar.

239

talking, very different from tire manner of tlie
fellahin Arabs we have hitherto had to do with,
marking them as men of an almost different race.
They asked us a question or two in return for ours,
and went on their way without any ceremony.

At two o’clock we came again to the valley, where
we found a beautiful green plain, covered with buffa-
loes and other cattle, and a large camp, the men of
which told us they were Ajuari., Across this plain
we travelled for a couple of hours, and have now
stopped in much such a situation as last night’s
camp, under a cliff and surrounded with the
greenest grass. Our mares have fattened rapidly
on the journey, as we have hitherto had corn to
give them, as w'ell as what they pick up, and that
is not a little. There are still great herds of
buffaloes near us, being driven home for the night
to a camp not a mile away. The people (Jibdri)
from it have come to us, and seem one of the best
tribes we have yet met, good-natured, honest folks,
as, we have remarked, all owners of buffaloes are,
ready to fetch milk, butter, or anything else Ave
Avant, but sufficiently commercial to expect payment
for Avhat they bring. They seem prosperous,
peaceable and happy, — fellahin, but of the best
sort. They tell us they are tributary to the
Shammar, that they are not a fighting tribe, and
that the Anazeh, Avhen they come, as they do most
years, to make their raids upon the Shammar, do
not meddle Avith their buffaloes. The first Shammar

240 Bedouin Tribes of the Ettphrates. [ch. xn.

camp, it appears, is only three hours’ march from
here, — not Ferhan’s, however, he is further on at
Sherghat, hut Ferhan’s people’s, under a sheykh of
the curious name of Miittony, pronounced as written.
So for good or for evil we shall see a real Bedouin
camp to-morrow : let us hope for good.

We have marched twenty-six miles to-day from
point to point on Chesney’s map, our position at
present being about three miles north-north-west of
Abu Eeysh, a ruin which we can see very well,
and we have done it in eight hours, pretty good
going for loaded camels or for any animals, for the
matter of that. It is forty-eight miles on now
to Sherghdt, so that we may hope to get there
the day after to-morrow. A traveller on foot has
come to oru’ camp with two little bags slung over a
stick on his shoulder. He is a pedlar, selling
tobacco to the Arabs. He has a rough pair of
wooden scales, and a pebble which he uses as a
weight. A fuimy old man, good-humoured, and
asking for nothing. There are some other guests,
too, in the shape of some little dish-washers, which
are tame enough to come almost inside the tent.

Sunday, March 3. — We were in no hurry to
start this morning, having only three hours’ march
before us, and I had time to take a sketch from the
top of a high mound, while Wilfrid made a discovery
of refuse glass, shelving that at some period of
history there must have been a glass foimdry here.
The cliffs are of sandstone, and fifty to a hundred

eii. XII.] We Come to the Hain7'in Hills. 241

feet higli. The view of Jehel Hamn'n Avas A*eiy
beautiful, its ravines and indentations furrowing its
eloj)es Avith a network of blue shade avs. We could
see the cleft through Avhich the Tigris issues, on its
passage from the upper plain of Assyria into the
lower one of Babylonia. Formerly the Hamrin
hills must have been the boundary of the two
kingdoms.

My mare. Tamarisk, has hurt her foot, and is so
lame that I haA^e been riding the deliil, a most
comfortable Avay of travelling ; but it is tiresome
to haA’e to keep Avith the camels, instead of riding to
see AAkat is happening. Besides, the motion is so
smooth that I get A^ery sleepy. Wilfrid in the
meantime AAms enjoying himself galloping after
jackals and foxes, one of Avhich he Avounded, but it
got aAvay among the rocks of the cliff, and I felt
very eimous, and tired of seeing Hagar careering
UAvay on the horizon, “ scarce so gross as a beetle.”

After passing some large Jiburi camps, Avhere
they gaA^e us milk and lebben, we came to a ruined
khan of the Saracenic age, maiked on the map as
Kerninah, a beautiful bxAilding Avith horseshoe gates.
At another Jibiiri camp further on, Ave learned that
Muttony and his Shammar AA'erc encamped under
the hills fiAm or six miles off to the cast of north,
Avhile our course, if avc Avantcd to go to Shcrghat,
should be north- Avcst, for camels cannot get across
the range of hills here, and have to go round to a
place Avhcrc there is a pass leading to the Wady

VOL. I.

242 Bedormi Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xir.

Gehennem. This encouraged Nejrdn to attempt
inducing us to shirk the Shammar altogether, for
like all townspeople, he has a wholesome horror of
Bedouins, and he proposed that we skould make
instead for a camp of Zoba, said to be nearer to our
line of march. None of our party knoAV as yet
where we are bound for after Sherghat, and the
Agheyl are under the impression that we are going
on to Mdsul. Hanna knows in a vague way, that
Ave expect to meet Mr. S. at Deyr, but his ideas of
geography do not go far.

It is needless to say that we paid no sort of atten-
tion to Nejran’s suggestion, and that Wilfrid struck
off in the direction pointed out by the Jibiiri. Ali
noAV for the first time came to the front, and though
apparently rather nervous, stuck close to Wilfrid as
he galloped on to reconnoitre. Nothing, however,
was visible but the desert and the hills for the
best part of two hours, until at last a man was
sighted peeping over the crest of a tell, and Wilfrid
rode up to question him. “ Who are you ? ” “ An
Arab.” ‘‘ Where from ? ” “ From the Arabs

out there,” pointing in the direction Ave had come
from. “Shammar?” “No.” “Jiburi?” “No.”
“ Zoba ? ” “ No.” “ Then Avhose are those

camels?” “The Shammars’.” “Where are the
Shammar ? ” “ Out there, far away, far away,”

pointing to the hill. “ Come and shoAV us, there’s
a good man. We are friends of Ferhan’s on our
Avay to Sherghdt, and Ave AAmnt to speak to

CH. XII.]

The Shammar at Last.

243

Miittony.” “Very well. I am one of Miittony’s
men,” “And a Shammar?” “Yes.” “Mashallah!
come along.”

This matter settled, it presently appeared that the
Shammar camp was close by, hidden hy some rising
ground, to the top of which onr new acquaintance
took us, informing us the while that Muttony him-
self was not there, being away on a ghazii against
the Anazeh, but that we should find Hatmoud ibn
Hiyet at home and very pleased to see us. These
Shammar are of the Aslan tribe. We soon saAV
below us a scattered camp of about twenty-five
tents, a great number of camels and a few mares,
perhaps half a dozen. I got on my mare so as
to arrive with becoming dignity, and Wilfrid gave
his gun to Hanna and put on a sword which he
has been keeping for state occasions. Mr. S. had
told us what to do, and how to behave among the
Bedouins, but we both, I think, felt rather shy at
this our first visit, arriving as strangers and un-
announced. Hobody came to meet us or seemed to
pay the least attention to our party, and we rode on
without looking to the right or to the left towards
the largest tent we could see. There we dismounted
slowly and walked into the tent.

The etiquette of an Arab reception is a rather
chilling thing, when experienced for the first time,
and we have never before been cn ceremonie among
the Bedouins, for in the French Sahara, and the
Egyptian desert, European travellers are well

244 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [oh. xh.

kno'wii, and are treated after European fasliion.
Here we are probably the first Europeans ever
seen. Nobody moved till we had come inside
the tent, and Wilfrid had said in a loud voice
“ Salaam aleykoum,” to which everybody, for there
were perhaps a dozen men sitting there, answered
also in a loud voice “ Aleykoum salaam.” Then
they rose to their feet and politely made way for
us to enter, the principal man bustling about to
have a carpet spread and a camel saddle brought for
us to lean our elbows on, for such is the custom.
We sat down without ceremony, merely making
the usual salute of raising the hand to the mouth
and head and looking solemn and unconcerned, for
so Mr. S. had recommended us to do ; but the
ice once broken, Hatmoud and his friends seemed
willing enough to talk, and anxious to do everything
they could to make us comfortable. Ali has come
out in quite a new light, for he is very useful in
keeping up conversation for us, always our difii-
culty, and very clever in making any little private
arrangements as to the pitching of our tents, and the
getting of corn for our mares, and other things which
one wants done but does not like asking for. Of
course, there is no question of paying for anything
here. In this he has shown considerable tact.

Hatmoud’s tent is a very poor one, and we are
disappointed in finding no external signs of great-
ness among these Shammar, more than in the tents
of their lower brethren Jiburi Delfm or Aghedaat.

CH. XII.]

Ceremonies of Reception.

245

Except one carpet and the saddle, there is abso-
lutely no furniture, and the coffee is made in
pots no better than Sotamm’s among the Jerlfa.
The men, however, are better behaved than most
of those in whose tents we have been, and have
asked no impertinent questions. In a few
minutes, thirty or more of them had collected round
Hatmoud’s fire. They made no secret of their
Sheykh’s proceedings. Muttony was away towards
Ana on a ghazu, with a thousand horsemen from
the Aslan, besides what he had mustered from other
Shammar tribes, for it would seem he is Akld or
military leader of the clan.* This expedition may
account for the absence of mares in the camp, or of
armed men, for very few of the tents were distin-
guished by the aristocratic spear. Muttony was to
cross the Euphi’ates somewhere near Eowa, and was
to attack the Mehed, Jedaan’s people. The name
of the Aslan camp is Ilowshweysh, a difficult name
to pronounce and impossible to write. When wo
had conversed for half an hour, we retired to our own
tent, pitched just behind Ilatmoud’s, and by Ali’s
arrangements had our dinner served there, which is
a far better plan than eating with the Arabs, and
which they made no objection to our proposing.
There are a great many dogs about the camp, and
a few greyhounds called by the Arabs tazeli.
Thus ends our first evening among the terrible
Shammar, of whom we have heard so many talcs,

* All this account was an exaggeration, as wo heard later.

246 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xn.

and who have figured as enemies in so many of
Mr. S.’s adventures.

March 4. — ^With regard to om’ plans, of which
it has been necessary that we should say something
in answer to the inquiries of our host and others,
Wilfrid has thought it best to conceal the exact
truth — at least, as far as Faris is concerned- — -until
we have found out Avhat his real jjosition is, mth
respect to Ferhan and the southern Shammar. We
have accordingly talked a great deal to-day about
visiting ruins and mounds, which they seem to
understand well enough as an object of interest
to Europeans. In this way we have hit upon a
piece of information wliieh may prove useful to us.
We were asking about the “remains” at Sherghat,
of which we had been told at Bagdad, as especially
interesting, when the man to whom we were talking
said, “ Oh, that is nothing. If you want to see
ruins, you should go to El Haddi’, where there are
stone pictures {sura hdjar') and old houses more
than you can count.” We asked where this was,
and he pointed north-west; which is exactly the
direction we shall probably have to take ; and
Wilfrid asked him if there were any Arabs on the
waj". “ Oh yes,” he said, “you will find Smeyr,
who is encamped just by the ruins.” This made
us open our ears, for Smeyr is a name which excites
our curiosity on account of his late journey to Jebel
Shammar ; and we have determined, if possible, to
see him — ^that is to say, if he is not too far out of

CH. XII.] Hatmoua sees us on our Way.

247

our road — and get all the information we can from
him on so interesting a subject.

Hatmoud proposed in the morning, the very thing
we wanted of him, to go with us to Sherghat. It
will be a sort of introduction for us to Ferhan,
besides giving us protection on the way in case of
an encounter with khaydl (horsemen) ; so we readily
agreed, and at eight o’clock we started. It was a
white frost, and our tents were covered with rime,
which, in spite of a bright sun all day, is still
unmelted. At starting, our feet were so cold that
we walked for the first mile or two, much to
Hatmoud’ s amiable vexation, for he kept on telling
us to “ erkob, erkob ” (“ mount, mount ”) in a tone
of command, as if it were his own mare he was
offering us. But it is a way everybody has in this
country, where the rule of minding one’s own
business is not accepted. This, however, is a small
matter to complain of. In everything he seems
most amiably disposed and anxious to oblige. He
and his companion were faiily mounted, he on a
bay mare he calls a Seglawfyeh and the other
on a two-year-old colt, a Jilfan. They both of
them admired Hagar, and when they heard her
breed, Kehllet Ajuz, put their hands to their
heads in token of respect. They hurried us along,
begging us not to let the camels graze, as there
might be khayal about, — and they kept a good
look-out towards the plain. On our right lay the
Makhiil hills, a continuation of Jcbel Ilamrin, bare

248 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. xh.

and red and intersected witli ravines, wliich every
now and then extended into the plain, cutting deep
water-courses, and putting the camels to some
trouble in crossing them. I again rode the deliil
most of the day, for Tamarisk limps vexationsly.
Hatmond recommends a wet bandage in the evening
of salt and lehhen.

A conj)le of camels apj)eared in sight, and the
follower was sent to reconnoitre, returning presently
with two more Aslan, who came on with us. One
of these, an old man, saw me eating an apple (one
of the Nawah’s) and asked what it was. I gave
him a piece, which he ate, and remarked, “ Hush
hada, basal” (“This is capital, an onion”). A
little later, a large party appeared on the horizon,
which we could not at first make out on account of
the mirage. They seemed to he keeping a nearly
parallel line with oiu's, and at first there was a
suspicion of khaydl, and the usual word “/c/w/”
(“ danger ”) was bandied about freely ; hut as our
lines gradually converged, the cause of alarm proved
to he nothing worse than some poor people with
donkeys, travelling from Bagdad to Mdsul. They
had been seven days on the road and had come this
way instead of taking the Derh es Sultan or high-
way round by the Persian frontier, because it is
shorter, and they have nothing to lose. They were
glad, however, of so good an escort as ours, and
proposed to travel with us as far as we should go.

There was a woman in the party, and as Ave Avere

CH. XII.] A fotcrney on Foot, no Romance. 249

both walking she came to me, and we had a little
talk. She told me how tired she was, how she, and
her husband Abdallah, and a boy of twelve, and a
child of three had but one very small donkey
amongst them. I saw Abdallah on it, with the
child in front of him. The elder boy was walking^
and she begged me to let him ride one of our
camels, and seemed very grateful when I consented.
She, poor thing, seemed to find life a burden ; her
feet were htud by the stones, and she expected to
be confined in about frvo months. The donkey
shook her too much, she said, and so she had
walked all the way. The thought of going home
to Mdsul was her only comfort — Mosul, such a
beautiful town, her own helled., far better than
that uTetched llagdad, Abdallah’s bfrthplace. The
anticipation of home buoyed her up with hope,
Two others of the party were Fatma’s brotlrcrSy
with a second donkey between them. One of the
Aslan very good-naturedly dismounted to give the
brother who was on foot a ride.

So the day passed, a long Aveary march, perfectly
straight, but across a singularly pretty bit of de-
sert, which nobody but I, I am sure, thought so,
Wilfrid had ridden on with Ilatmoud, and about
four o’clock I saw them gallop towai’ds some tents,
Avhich appeared still a long Avay off under the
hills. When Ave came up, the tAVO Shammar had
stuck their spears into the ground in a nice Avady,
Avhere there was grass, a mile or so from the tents.

250 Bedouin Tj'ibes of the Euphrates, [oh. xn.

This was the sign of our camp being chosen, so
here we are pleasantly lodged enough and alone,
for the Mdsul people have gone on to the Arab
camp.

.... I am afraid we have made a stupid mis-
take; and it only shows how careful one has to be, in
dealing with Arabs, not to hurt their feelings. "We
were resting in our tent, rather tired, writing our
journals, when Hanna came to say that a lamb had
been sent from the neighbouring camp. We had
understood from Hatmoud, that the people there
Avere not Shammar, but Haddadfn, whom we had
heard of as a very respectable, but commercial tribe,
which makes its living by taking in sheep to graze
from the townsmen of Aleppo and Mosul. We did
not then suppose that the lamb came as a present,
and haAdng our larder full sent it away. But now
several of the Hgddadin have come, and with them
their Sheykh, the sender of the lamb, who is much
distressed at having his hospitality slighted. The
Sheykh, a venerable old man with a singularly dig-
nified countenance, was standing unnoticed by us
in front of our tent, when Hdnna returned with
this explanation, and we have had much ado to
make him forget our rudeness. We made him sit
doAvn by us, showed him our maps and asked him
about his tribe. Still he remained grave, as Aiubs
do when they are ofiended, and then after a certain
amount of talk, in the course of which we were
informed, though not by himself, that our visitor

CH. XII.] We Offend a Worthy Man.

251

was Abclallali, Slievkh of all the Haddadin in
JMesopotamia, we hade Hanna bring what was left
ns of the frnit the Hawab had packed for us at
Kasmeyn, and which we had hitherto found a most
acceptable present, when presents were required, —
for fruit is held in great estimation by the Bedouins.
This Ave begged him to accept for “ his house,” that
is to say his wives and family, the usual polite form
of offering such a present ; but the old man put
them aside, not rudely but reproachfully, and saying
simply “You Avould not take my lamb, Avhy should
I take these ? ”

We assured him lamely enough, that Ave did not
knoAV the present came from a Shcykh, (of course
Ave could not say that Ave thought it had been sent
for sale,) that Ave had no notion that the camp we
had seen was that of Abdallah the Sheykh of the
Haddadfn, or we should certainly have alighted
there,* and that in fine the lamb should at once
be killed. The bystanders interested in the pro-
spect of a feast, supported us hi our explanation,
and declared that it Avas satisfactory, and the good
old man has gone aAvay Avith his oranges and pome-
granates. But I am vexed at our having made the
mistake. The lamb has been slain and devoui’od.
It is delightfully still to-night, after the Shammar
camp of yesterday, AA'ith no sound in the desert

* An excuse for want of politeness on the ground of ignorance
of the rank of the person offended, though an additional offence
with us, is always accepted as valid in the East.

252 Bedolun Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xir.

round us, but that of the camels quietly chewing
their cud.

March 5. — The Haddadfn, according to Sheykh
Abdallah, have five hundred tents, the number, I
expect, of those under his direct rule, for Hatmoud
assures us that they are a very numerous tribe,
tlu-ee or four thousand tents he says. They have
at any rate the appearance of great wealth, for
besides a hiindi’ed camels which they keep for
carrying their tents and other goods, they have a
far greater number of sheep here, than we have
seen together during our whole journey, except
those perhaps on the plain of Melakh. The flocks
began to pass our camp before it was light, and
some of them must have been already out of sight,
yet, counting them as Ave started, I made out at
least twenty separate flocks, which may be reckoned
as containing quite Aa'c hundred sheep each. In
one which I counted there Avere over seven hundi’ed.
This gh^es ten thousand, in round numbers, as the
property of only tAvehm tents. Some of these Avere
probably only held in part OAAmership Avith the toAAms-
men of Mosul; but, CA’^en if half Avere not theirs, this
still leaA^es oA'cr four hundred sheep each, a A’ery tidy
property.

An hour after this, we turned to the right, and
began to cross the hills by a well-worn pass in the
limestone rocks, tAvo hundred and fifty feet, accord-
ing to my barometer, aboAm the plain, and six
hundred and fifty aboA’e the leAml of the Tigris at

CH. XII.] An Agheyl Encampment.

253

Howshweysh.. We reached the highest point at
half-past ten, and from it got a fine view north-
wards over the plain of I^ineveh and the hills
beyond Mosul, still white with snow. The descent
w'as not rapid and, after one or two ups and downs,
brought us to a smiling valley rejoicing in the quite
inappropriate name of Wady Gehennem or Valley of
Gehenna. There we overtook a party of Agheyl,
with thirty or forty camels, encamped with their
luggage in a sheltered place. They were delighted
to see their comrades ISTejrdn and Ferhan, and made
us stop and drink water with them. They had no
cofiee, and Wilfrid was given a narghileh. They
were from Bagdad, and had been thirty-one days on
the road, taking it easy on account of their camels.
They had followed the river all the way. This gave
^Neji-dn, who has begun to complain about our going
on every day, and for such a long distance, a text
for a sermon on overdriving the camels. But they
have shown no disposition yet to give in, and keep
well in flesh, so that I suspect it is more on his own
account than theirs that he is anxious. lie does
not do half so much work as Ferhan, and insists
upon riding one or other of the camels a great part
of the day. He is a very little man, but inclined
to bo domineering, and to give his advice on all
occasions. The other servants don’t like him, and
Hanna complains of his prodigious appGitc. But
Avc caimot afford to quarrel with him here.

The approach to Sherghdt isAhccrlcss enough, as

254 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [on. xn.

is that of every other place with settled habitations
in this country. I^ot that Sherghdt has any houses,
or anything more than a wretched little guard-house
to boast of ; hut Ferlidn Pasha, as he is styled, has
made it his jGLsed head-quarters now for three years
past, and of course, every blade of grass has been
eaten down, and every inch of ground trampled and
hemired for miles round. A more dismal camp, not
even excepting Aldershot, I never passed through,
dirty and squalid and hideous. It makes one’s eyes
ache to look at it. The Pasha’s tent is set on the
side of a hare heap of refuse, one of the Mounds of
Sherghat, and looks uncomfortably askew. It is
surrounded by smaller tents, perhaps fifty of them,
to give it a countenance, but in such a place a
whole army would look mean. Here we have now
alighted with the dreary prospect of a two days’
sojourn before us, and I can afford to put off de-
scribing Sherghat and our reception at the Pasha’s
tent till to-morrow.

' UBRARY
OFTHE

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

> - ,)

. I

GAET SHAMMAR MOVING THEIR CAMP.

CHAPTEK XIII.

“ But what on earth brings you to Cub Castle ? ”

“ They’re fearless fules the young Osbaldiston squires.’*

The sons were indeed heavy unadorned blocks as the eye would desire to look
upon.” Rob Roy.

rerhan’s camp at Shergli§.t — His wives and sons — We diplomatise —
We start to cross Mesopotamia — Ismail on horseflesli — We are
received by Smeyr — His account of Nejd, its rulers, and its
horses.

If I had been born a Sfuk and called myself
Ferhan, Sbeykh of the Shammar, I would not give
up life in the desert, even to be made a Pasha and
to have £3000 a year paid me quarterly. Xeither
would I condescend to handle a spade, even in make
believe, or go about with a tail of ragamuffins at
my back, picked up from the offscourings of all the
low tribes of the Tigris. I would not ride half
bred mares or keep a rascally Mollah from Mdsui
to instruct my sons in Turkish, and — oh, a thousand
times ! — I would not live at Sherghat.

Of all wretched places this, I think, is the
wretchedest; and it is just possible that Ferhan’s
residence here may be as much a mal^e believe as
all the rest, for he is away on a visit, they tell us,
to Xaif, that son of Faris to whom we have letters,

256 Bedotlin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xm.

and nobody knows when he will be back. This
absence, although at first sight it seemed to us a
calamity, is after all perhaps the best thing that
could have happened to our plans; for now we
shall have the excuse of going after him, to cover
•our further journey into the heart of Mesopotamia,
and once started, it will be hard if we don’t go
where we like.

We were received at the Pasha’s tent with more
than the usual frigidity of Bedouin etiquette, the
absent Sheykh being represented by his son, a boy
of fifteen, who either had not the wit or had not
the manners to behave himself politely. He
remained sitting when we entered, even after the
salaam had been given, and pretended to be unable
to understand a word of what we said or to com-
municate with us except through an interpreter,
an empty form, as we do not know a single word
of Turkish, and the interpreter’s Arabic is in no
way different from his own. By preserving a very
solemn silence, however, in return for his, and by
talking to others instead of to him, we managed to
assert our position as people of consequence, and of
course, as guests, we had a right to certain honour-
able forms, which there was no idea of denying us.
Indeed, I am pretty sure that the boorish manner
of Abd ul Aziz (for such is the young gentleman’s
name) is due more to stupidity than to any intention
to disoblige, for this morning, as we remained in
our tent till rather late, he has sent a message to

CH. XIII.]

Czib Castle.

257

'Wilfrid to say that he ho]pes he is not offended and
to invite him to coffee. There seems, too, to he
every intention of complying with onr wishes as
to future proceedings, for the Xawah’s letter has
been read, and it contains an especial request to
Ferhan to forward us to any part of the Shammar
country we may choose to visit. It is probable
that the present of a cloak and a pair of hoots at
the beginning would have made all right, hut it is
rather late now, and Wilfrid considers it would be
doing the young cub too much honour to invest
him with a robe. Ali advises us to let the matter
he, so wo have limited our gifts to some sugar-
plums, sent to Ferhdn’s favourite wife, the person
really in authority here, and Avho with her children
is the only one, besides the mollah, actually living
in the Sheykh’s tent, Ahd ul Aziz and his brother,
Abd ul Mekhsin, another cub, being already married
and settled in tents of their OAvn.

Ferhan Pasha, because he is a Pasha, has been
many times married, and he still has six AAUves,
residing at Sherghat. These ladies have separate
tents and establishments, and see no more of
each other than relations are hound to do. Fasal,
the youngest and the favourite, alone lives Avith
him. She is the daughter of Sheykh Saaddun, a
Kurdish chief from Upper Mesopotamia, and has
two sons, Hamid and Peddr, three and tAA'o years
old. As Ferhan himself is the son of a Pagdadich,
these little hoys are consequently of very mixed

VOL. I. S

258 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xm.

origin and only to the degree of one quarter Arab
in blood.

I >yent, on the afternoon of onr arrival, with
the Yakil, or representative of the Pasha, Mollah
Abdallah, to pay the Hatdun Fasal a visit. I
found her in the half of the big tent that is divided
by an awning from the public part. She is pretty,
with bro'wn sleepy eyes and well- shaped, though
rather large hands, very much tattooed. Her little
boy Hamid, aged three, was playing about with
first one, then another, of the crowd of people,
men, women, boys and girls, who sat round a fire
in a hole in the ground, on which stood a huge
copper pot full of rice and meat stewing. Fasal
rose and kissed me, and we sat together on a
mattrass. Behind her was a cradle, out of which
a girl handed her a very small baby wrapped in
very dirty rags ; she nursed it for a short time and
gave it back to the girl. Then somebody uncovered
the big pot and pulled out some lumps of boiled
meat, which were given to the little boy Hdmid to
munch. All this time the conversation did not
proceed ; the Hatdnn seemed stupid, and I could not
make much out of the Vakil, who sat on my left.
A little girl, Fasal’ s eldest child, named Shems,
about five or six years old, had a nice face. A
stir in the crowd opposite was occasioned by
another lady coming into the circle ; the secretary
said she was Ferhdn’s sister Arifia. All the rest
of the company seemed to be servants, nurses, and

CH. XIII.]

The Mounds of Sherghdt.

259

inferiors. I was delighted when the moment came
for leaving the harem, for the scene Avas one of
squalor and discomfort. The men, uncouth as they
are here, have generally something to say, but the
Avomen are Avithont ideas, good-natured, but quite
uninteresting.

I found Wilfrid sitting talking Avith a man from
Hormuz, a suburb of Mdsul, Avho is here on
business, selling tobacco, and Avho knoAvs all the
tribes of this part of the country. From him
and the mollah, and tAVO or three others of the
Pasha’s retainers he has been making out a list of
the Shammar tribes, Avith an approximate table of
their numbers. From this it Avould appear that
the Shammar do not in all number more than
eleven or tAvelve thousand tents, and their fighting
allies and tributaries eight or nine thousand more.
Perhaps they could bring twenty thousand spears
into the field, if all could be got together.

Our dinner Avas served in our OAvn tent, and Avas
both plentiful and good, — burghul, ragouts, lebben,
butter, and Avell-baked bread. Tavo lambs Avere
killed for us, Hanna says. After this, except for
the incessant barking of dogs, avo were left in
peace.

So much for yesterday. To-day has been a
Aveary one of idleness. We Avere taken to see the
ruins, or rather mounds, for there is nothing above
ground in Sherghat. These, they say, are just
the same as those at Nineveh. Indeed Sherghat,

26o Bedo^lin Tribes of the Ettph7'ates. [ch. xm..

according to Dr. Colville, is one of the Kinevite-
cities. To us they were quite uninteresting,,
though Wilfrid considered it his duty to rummage'
about in the tunnels dug by antiquarians on the
chance of finding something neAV. These cannot
haA^e been made more than thirty years, yet already
the history of them is forgotten, and they are held
b}'’ the Arabs to be as ancient as the mounds them-
seh^es. We vieAved a Avolf aAvay from one of them,
but the ground Avas too broken for coursing him..
The tAVO young Osbaldistones rode Avith us, “ Dickon
the jockey, and Wilfrid the fool.” They could not
have been better rejDresented — the one trying to-
sell us the mare lie Avas riding, the other saying-
nothing at all. I will say this hoAvever for Abd ul
Aziz, that Avhen Wilfrid questioned him about the
breed of his mare, he admitted at once that she Avas-
only Kehlleh, and, though the MosulaAvi AA^ho Avas
riding at his elboAV suggested the addition of
“ Ajiiz,” the boy said, “No, she is not asil — she
came from Bagdad.”

In the afternoon, Fasal returned my Ausit, AAdiile
Wilfrid Avas out for a AA^alk, AA'ith her sister-in-laAv
and childi’en, and folloAved by attendants, AA^ho all
croAvded into the small tent. The A'akil came too.
Fasal OAudently AAnshed to be amiable, but I found it
ditficult to talk AAuth her. She only once brightened
up, Avhen I spoke of her father, Sheykh Saadoun,.
AA'ho liA^es near Diarbekr. I offered them some of
Mrs. Nixon’s diamond-shaped Avhite Bagdad SAveets

<CH. XIII.]

Ferhatis Harem.

261

— they seemed to hesitate about taking any, Avhen
Hanna, who stood outside, said something about the
sweetmeats being fit to eat, and the Vakil Mollah
Abdallah put in ‘‘ shoglil Islam ” * — The children
then, especially Shems, pounced upon the box and
carried it off. Wilfrid wanted me to give a kefiych,
and so I offered it, and by Avay of talking, said to
the hatowij “ Please take it for the boy ; ” then it
was explained to me that children’s heads are
always dressed in black ■]■ — ^liowever the keffyeh
Avas taken. The tent becoming too croAvded after
half-an-hour, I said I should be A'cry pleased
if the hatdun Avould stay longer, but that being
tired I must noAv sleep, and then they all Avent
aAA’ay.

Wilfrid, during his AA'alk, had come upon the
Agheyl Ave had made the acquaintance Avitli in the
Wady Gehennem, and had sat doAvn AA'ith them and
eaten some lentil broth they had ready for their
dinner, much to the disgust of a negro slave of the
Pasha’s Avho Avas Avith him, and Avho thought him-
self degraded by such company. The people here
are a mongrel set, A'ery feAV indeed of them real
Shammar. We see no sign of the cultiA'ation
supposed at Pagdad to be flourishing here, but Abd
ul Pettakh, the man from Ilornuiz, says there is
plenty betAveen this and Mosul.

All is, I believe, arranged for our journey to-

* Literally, “ Mussulman business.”

t Lor fear of the evil eye.

262 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xm.

inoiTow. The Mollah is evidently the man in
anthority here, and we have succeeded in making
friends with him, at least to the extent of getting
him to help us in our plans. We have not said
much about Faris, except in the way of inquiring
his whereabouts. IS'ohody seems to know clearly
about this, and, although they will not admit that
ho and Ferhan are otherwise than friends, there
is certainly some mystery connected with him.
Ilesides, it now appears that there are at least three
Farises, and that the father of Naif is Ferhan’ s
uncle, not his brother, and consequently not the one
Ave Avant. We AA'ish, hoAvever, to get aAvay from
Sherghat AAithont delay, and have Avorked the ruins
of El Haddr as a first stage on the road. These Ave
declare Ave must and aaqII see, and have appealed
to the NaAvah’s letter for assistance in doing so.
Ferhan, too, is someAvhere in that direction, and Ave
talk of going on to him aaEcu Ave have seen the
ruins. So it is settled that a man of the name of
Ismail is to go Avith us, and see us safely to the
Pasha, passing through El Haddr on our AA'ay.
There has been the usual talk about Kh6f, danger,,
and harami, robbers, and ghazus, AA’ar parties, and
if one Avere to take this literally, one Avould svqjpose
the Shammar here, at their head-quarters on the
Tigris, lived in daily terror of the Anazeh. But Ave
have long left off believing an5dhing that Ave hear
on this score.

March 7. — It Avas raining hard tliis morning

CH. XIII.] How to Cttre a Horse. 263

when Ave got np, hnt Ave avouIcI not he hanlked of
starting, and then Tamarisk Avas discoA’ered to haA'e
something the matter AA'ith her. Every tAvo minntes
she lay doAAm and rolled, and then got np again.
The Arabs said she A\’as “ mani6sa^'‘ and that it
came from eating too much barley after too much
grass. It Avas probably a colic. They prescribed
many remedies, and tried tAvo or tln-ee ; first a rope
AAms tied tight round the loins, then she AAms AA^alked
and run about, and then her tail Avas tied up Avith
string, and lastly Ismail Avhispered a Averse of the
Koran into her ear. This seemed to do her good,
and Ave started.

The people of Sherghat are fond of saying their
prayers, a habit they have learned from their
Sheykh, whose half-Turkish education seems to
have affected the AA’hole of the people about him.
Our Agheyl, Kejrtin, on the strength of this has
become Amry obnoxiously pious, saying his prayers
in and out of season, and giving us quite uncalled-
for advice. lie is also an idle felloAA", leaving
everything to Ferhan Aidio loA'es hard Avork, insists
upon riding instead of Avalking, cats till he is ill,
and, Avhat Ave most dislike, is ahv'ays hanging about
listening to Avhat is going on in our tent. Ali, on
the contrary, is groAving more and more in our
estimation, though less and less in flesh. lie keeps
strictly to his place, does Avhat ho is told, and is
clover in the little bits of diplomacy avc trust him
to manage. Ilaima shoAVS no sign of giving in.

264 Bedotmi Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. xm.

and lias lost all liis fear of the Bedouins, if not
quite of tlie desert.

Ill as we liad been received, great difficulty was
made about our going away, now tbat there was
the excuse of the rain, but Wilfrid was firm, and
Abd 111 Aziz bad bis mare saddled and brought
round to accompany us, I think, after all, they
are not a bad sort of boys, only ill-educated and a
little spoilt by their father’s position. They don’t
like the Turkish language they have to learn, or
the half-bred horses they have to ride, and would
be glad to join their elder brothers, Eyssa and
Mijuel, who scorn such things and live in the
desert like gentlemen. So there is hope for them
yet. Abd ul Aziz managed even to get out a
complimentary speech, at leaving us, in answer to
one made him by Wilfrid, and smiled and looked
gracious, as we rode away.

We have been travelling over a table land, on
beautiful undulating soil thinly covered with grass
and thickly with fiowers, and intersected by deep
ravines, at the bottom of which there is usually rich
meadow pasture. Our course is due west, which
answers exactly to the position of El Haddr on our
maps, only that Chesney’s general map of Arabia
and Syria makes it fifty, and his particular survey*
of the Tigris describes it as only twenty-eight
miles from the river.

We have with us, besides Ismail, a black slave

* By James Claudius Eicli, British resident at Bagdad.

III. xiir.] Account of Jebel Shammai'.

265

aucl a boy and an old man in a turban on a donkey,
all on their way to Ferhau, and taking advantage
of our journey to get an escort. Ismail is very
communicative. He tells us that it is perfectly
true that Smeyr went to Jebel Shammar this
winter, but he doesn’t know what came of it. He
says that the relationship of the Shammar in Meso-
])otamia and the Shammar in Hejd, of whom Ibn
Eashid is one, is always kept up, and he seems to
know all about the country, though he has not been
there himself. He says that Ibn Eashid has tliirty
cannon and any number of guns, and is so rich
that he sent tlmee camel loads of gold to Mecca as
an offering. There is no water in Jebel Shammar
except in wells, nor grass nor corn nor anything
but dates. The wells he said are as deep as from
“ here to that camel,” eighty yards off', or, stretch-
ing out his arms, ‘‘forty times that.” He says
also that certain ties of relationship exist betAveen
the Jerba Shammar, his OAvn tribe, and the Eoala,
and that the late Feysnl Ibn Shaalan’s mother Avas
a Jerba. This Avonld account for the proposed
alliance of Ibn Eashid, Ibn Shaalan and the Meso-
potamian Shammar.

Ismail is surprised at my knoAAdng so much about
the breeds of horses, and Ave had a long talk about
them. I find he is quite as fanatical as everyone
else about blood, although he says the Pasha and
some of his folloAvers affect to despise it. This is
because Ferhan is a Turk and has spent eight

266 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. xm.

years of liis life at Constantinople, always talking
Ttn-kish in preference to Arabic, whenever he gets
the chance. His sons were brought up in the
same ideas, but the elder ones have broken loose
and live away with the Arabs down towards Ana.
The Turks have no thoroughbred horses of their
own, and knoAV nothing about those of the Arabs.
He told us, however, that the Abeyeh Sherrak Ave
had seen at Bagdad had really come from Ferhan
and ^xas really asil. Formerly, Ferhan or his father
had possessed a strain of SeglaAvi Jedran blood,
but it had died out. Ibn Shaalan of the Eoala
Avas noAV the only possessor of that strain,* and he
appeared surprised and rather incredulous Avhen I
told him, Avhat Ave haA"0 constantly heard, that Ibn
Hedderi of the Gomussa and Ibn Sbeni of the
Mehed both retain it. I then told him the story
of the Yaly’s mare at Bagdad at Avhich he laughed
so loud and so long that I thought he Avould tumble
oft his horse. He kept on repeating at intervals
during the day “Ivehilet Ajriz es Simri,” “Kehilet
Ajiiz es Simri,” and every time AAuth neAV bursts of
delight. I wish Mr. Eeubeniram could have heard
him.

Having brought Ismail in this Avay to a high pitch
of good humour aa'O began to open ground Avith him
about Faris. Here he Avas more reticent, and only
ansAvered our question, as to Avhether Faris and
Ferhan Avere friends, by saying “ they are brothers.

* This is incorrect. Ibn Shaalan’ s breed is Seglawi el Abd.

CH. XIII.]

Ismail is Amused.

267

Ferhan is Slieyldi of all tlie Sliammar, all, all I ”
One tiling, however, we have ascertained, and that
is that our Faris is not at all the same as Mohammed
el Faris, Xa'if’s father, or Faris ihn Mohammed,
Xa'if’s brother; so that we have been at cross
purposes all along about him, and, even if Xoman
had come with ns from Bagdad, he could have
been of no use to ns. Faris too, it appears, is on
the Khahur, not near the Sinjar hills ; but we did
not press the matter, as we must see how the land
lies a little further yet.

The rain stopped soon after we started, hut
there has been a violent wind all day. Xow we
are snug enough in a deep wady, ivhere there is
grass and water, and where Wilfrid has got us
some ducks and teal and snipe for dimier. There
is no sign of inhabitants, and we are happy.
Talking of Xaif, we mentioned Ahmet Aga and the
letter ive had from him ; but Ismail begged ns to
say nothing about it to the Pasha, as Ahmet Aga
and he ivere “ dushman,” “ enemies,” linldng his
little fingers which is the Arabic sign for enmity,
as putting the forefingers side by side is that of
friendship, ‘‘ Enemies ? ” we asked, “ and how ? ”
He then told us that Ahmet Aga (a thoughtless
young man) had, in attempting to cure Ferhan of
shortsightedness (a common complaint among the
Ai’abs), j)ut the eye out altogether. He had poured
sulphate of zinc, or something of the sort, into the
eye, without adding any water, and the eye was

268 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xm.

gone. I remember having heard the story at
Bagdad. Now for a quiet night’s rest.

March 8.- — I suppose we did not manage more
than twelve miles yesterday, but to-day we have
marched nearly twenty. Wilfrid began the morn-
ing by pulluig the tent down over the servants’
heads, for, with the black man and boy, and the
man from Mosul, and a shepherd impressed on the
xoad yesterday as guide, there are rather more than
he can manage quietly. This set them all in a
bustle, and we got off at seven o’clock, the earliest
start we have made yet.

We were no sooner out of the wady, and on the
table-land again, than we found ourselves in a
thick fog, which would have obliged us to stop if
we had been without a compass. By the compass
we determined the direction, and then kept to it by
the wind, which blew from behind upon our right
ears. It is curious how little faculty the Ai’abs
have of finding their way. Their course seems
to be directed entirely by what, I believe, sailors
call “rule of thumb.” Once out of their own
district they are incapable of pursuing a straight
line by the sun, or the wind, or any natural
instinct. They travel from landmark to landmark
.and almost always in a zigzag, which costs them
many a mile. Here they had to depend entirely
upon us for the direction of £1 Haddr, a place we
had never seen, or heard of till two days ago ; and
•our Imowledge of its position, though simple enough

CH. XIII.]

A Perennial Stream.

269

to us, seemed very marvellous to them. When the
fog cleared, as it did in the course of the morning,
they saw to their surprise El Haddr straight in
front of them. It was still many miles off, hut our
course had been correct. I think this fog has been
a fortunate circumstance, as it has raised us in the
eyes of all our following, who now profess full faith
and confidence in the Beg.

Soon after this, we descended to lower ground,
and came upon a spring of rather hitter water and
some Haddadfn tents, where they gave us milk and
told us Smeyr was straight before us,, in the valley
of the Sersar or Tharthar. These Haddadin are
certainly one of the best-mannered tribes we have
met, and are ahvays hospitable and friendly ; you
are sure of a j)leasant reception in their tents. All
the country hetAveen the Sersar and the Tigris is
intersected Avith ravines and deep Avadys, aa'cII
Avatered and rich in grass. It surprises one A^ery
much to find it so thinly inhabited, hut the popula-
tion of the desert is no doubt fixed, not by AA'liat it
can maintain in good years like the present one,
but in seasons of drought or blight. The Sersar,
hoAVCA’cr, is a perennial stream, and qnite unlike
any other aa'c have seen in Asia. It floAvs doAA’ii a
AA^ell-defined A^alley meandering through rich pasture,
and its banks arc fringed AAuth pollard avIIIoaa'S, just
as one may see many a stream in England, Avhcrc it
Avould liaA'c an evil reputation among sportsmen as
a “ stopper ” in the hunting field. Sluggish and

2 70 Bedoinn Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. xm.

deep, and with rotten banks, the Sersar is twenty-
five to thirty feet wide and, at the ford Avhere we
crossed it, about five feet deep. There are very few
places Avhere camels can get across. Hagar Avent
boldly in, Avithout making any fuss, and my mare
followed, and was off her legs and SAvimming for a
moment or tAvo. Hanna AAdth his Avhite donkey and
Ali long stood shHering on the hank, and I haA'e
not yet heard hoAV they managed to get over. We
did not AA^ait for them, hut pushed on Avith Ismail to
Smeyr’s camp, Avhich lay just beyond.

We stopped at the principal tent, Avhere a little
spare man of fifty, Avith grizzled heard, pale cheeks
and an anxious expression of face, received us. At
first, AA"e doubted from his manner Avhether Ave Avere
altogether Avelcome, but he made ns sit doAvn, and
had carpets and cushions brought, and presently,
after a fcAV Avords in his ear from Ismail, among
Avhich I distinguished something about “ bint el
malek” (daughter of the king), his features relaxed,
and his manner became more amiable. This AA^as
Smeyr, of Avhom Ave had heard so much as Ferhan’s
envoy to Ibn Eashid. We then began to talk, first
making the usual compliments of asking after our
host’s health and hoping that all Avas going aa'cII
with him, and then inquiring about the ruins of El
Haddr, Avliich aa^c professed a great curiosity to see.
He said that he understood them to be interesting,
and had heard that they contained sculptures and
inscriptions, but he had never looked at them

CH. XIII.] I am the Dai!,ghte7' of a King. 271

liimself, except from a distance. He should be
delighted to show them to us, and added that wc
were the first Europeans who had come to El
Haddr. He had known Mr. Eassam formerly, the
English Consul at Mosul, and he inquired after him
and the hatdun, Mrs. Eassam. They had never
come to El Haddr.* A European had been sent
two years ago to Eerhan at Sherghat on purpose
to see the ruins, but had not been allowed to
proceed, as he was suspected of being a Muscdv.
Europeans, he knew, were curious about such
things. He then said rather abruptly to Wilfrid,
and pointing to me, “Is it true that the hatdun is
“ ahsan’ (better), than yon ? ” We did not under-
stand what he meant, hut Wilfrid answered, I
suppose as a compliment to me, “ Oh yes ! far
better.” Whereupon he went on to say that he had
heard as much, and that he was very pleased to have
the opportunity of making my acquaintance. We
saw that there was a mystification somewhere, and
we remembered certain hints to the same effect,
which Ismail had let drop in conversation to-day
as we came along, and as soon as Ave returned to
our tent wo asked Ismail Avhat it all meant. lie
then told us that ho had heard from He j ran that I
Avas the daughter of a king,']' and that, noAV the Bog

* In this Smeyr was mistaken. Mr. Ainsworth visited El Iladdr
in 1840, and Mr. Layard the year following, with Mr. and MrSj
llassam.

t The woid “ malek,” though translated king, hardly convej’s

272 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xm.

had admitted the truth of it, there was no longer
any reason for concealment. He had told Smeyr all
about it, and implied that there was nothing to he
ashamed of in the matter. In vain we assured him
that it was all nonsense. He refused to believe us,
having heard the Beg say it with his ovm ears. It
was not worth while disputing, so a king’s daughter,
I suppose, I must remain. Where Hejrdn picked
up his information I cannot think, hut it may perhaps
he accounted for by the presents given me by the
Hawab. For to receive gifts is always a high proof
of merit in the East.

Wilfrid is so much pleased with Smeyr s reception
of us, that he has decided on giving him a mashlah,
the one indeed he had intended for the Pasha ; and
he thmks that, by making friends with him, we may
very likely be able to dispense with Ferhan’s permis-
sion to go on to Faris. This would save us time
and trouble, and Ave liaA^e no great curiosity to see
this half-Turkish Pasha ; besides AAEich, if it is true
that he is on bad terms with his brother, a Ausit to
him might defeat our object altogether. In any
case Ave don’t know where Ferhan is, and a friend
like Smeyr in the hand would be Avell Avorth Iavo
like Ferhan in the bush. With this Anew Ali has
been despatched on a diplomatic mission to the
Sheykh’s tent, carrying Avith him a gold embroidered

to Arab ears what it does to ours. Any great independent Sheykh,
like Ibn Eashid of Jebel Shammar, might take the title without
adding much to his dignity.

CH. XIII.] We make Friends with Smeyr.

273

cloak, a pair of red boots, about three pounds of
tobacco in leaf, and a box of sugar-plums for the
harem.

# %

I was iuterrupted by All’s return. He has
managed things capitally, having not only sounded
the ground with Smeyr, but got him to agree to our
wishes. There has been luck as well as skill in this,
but I will not go into the details of his negotiation
separately, but give the result as it now stands,
after a conversation we have ourselves had with the
Sheykh. It turns out then that, when he first saw
us arriving at his camp, Smeyr was considerably
alarmed, fancying that we were a party of soldiers
sent to arrest him ; for some years ago, at the time I
believe of Abd ul Kerim’s death, he or his people
killed some soldiers sent by the Government against
them, and Smeyr has since then been “ wanted ” at
Bagdad.

The Turkish Government have several times sent
orders to their Pasha, Perhan, to deliver up his
cousin to them, but Ferhan has hitherto put them
off by saying that he does not know where to find
Smeyr. Smeyr, however, evidently mistrusts his
chief, and is anxious to come to terms with those
in power, fearing some act of treachery which
should lead him to the gallows. How it is a very
common thing among the Bedoums, when they
wish to make their peace with the Government, to
get one of the foreign Consuls to intercede in their

VOL. I.

2 74 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xm.

favour, and Smeyr had already written to Colonel
Nixon on the subject. He had, however, not yet
had an answer, and he now fancies that our journey
to El Haddr must in some way he connected with
his own affairs. Ali, seeing its advantage to our
plans, has done his best to encourage the idea.
Without going so far as this, we have expressed
our readiness to do anything we can for him in
the way of interceding in his behalf with Colonel
Nixon, or of carrying letters or treating with
Husseyn Pasha for him when we get to Deyr. He
sees very plainly that we have nothing to do with
the Government, as we have no soldiers or zaptiehs,
or any representative of authority with us, and
that we wish him well and may perhaps be able to
help him. He was delighted, too, we hear, with
the cloak, the like of which has not been seen in
this part of Mesopotamia within the memory of
man, and Hanna’s description of the way it was
handed round in the tent, and felt and tried on and
admired, is very satisfactory. Finding him in such
excellent dispositions, we have told Smeyr frankly
what it is we want, and he has answered, I fully
believe, as frankly, — certainly very sensibly.

In the first place, we are to see El Haddr, which
it would he a pity to miss, as we are so near it,
and then we are to make our way, without turning
to the right or to the left, for the Khdbur, a small
river which runs into the Euphrates below Deyr,
and somewhere on the hanks of which Earis is

CH. XIII.] Conversation about Ibn Rashid.

275

known to be encamped. This is about a hundred
and thirty miles as the crow flies, and of course
desert all the way, but he will send a trusty man
with us, the same that he took with him to Jebel
Shammar this year. With regard to Ferhan,
Smeyr insists that we must go to him, if we hear
that he is anywhere near our line of march, and
this of course we should feel bound in any case to
do after having enjoyed his hospitality at Sherghdt.
We must also keep on Ismail, the Pasha’s man, as
Smeyr is afraid of giving offence by allowing us
to send him back. As to his own man, he is to
have ten mejidies (£2) as “akliram” (reward,
literally “honour,” like the French “ honoraires ”)
for the job. To all this we have consented, and
have thanked Smeyr most cordially for his help.

We are now on a more confldential footing with
him than we have yet been with any of the Arabs,
and we have made use of it to ask him for par-
ticulars of his visit to Jebel Shammar. With
regard to his own adventures, we cannot get him
to say much, which looks as if he had not been too
well received by Ibn Eashid, in fact we know his
mission failed ; but he talks freely enough about
the country and the people in it, and, what we
most wanted to know of, the horses. I will put
down as nearly as I can recollect what he says :
Jebel Shammar, he affirms most positively, in
spite of what Dr. Colville told us of its being
a single conical peak, is a long range of hills

276 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xm.

higher than Jehel Hamrin, — “like Jebel Sinjar,
only higher still.” Eain falls there in the winter
and sometimes snow. There are, however, no
springs or water of any sort above ground, but
plenty of deep wells, and he makes use of the same
mode of describing their depth as Ismail did, by a
distance along the ground, which is cmdous.* The
people of Hiyel and the other towns, and their
Sheykh, Ibn Eashid, live most of the year in
houses, but during the winter and early spring go
out to the mountain, and then they inhabit tents.
There is plenty of grass at that time of year, that

is to say for three or four months, and the mares

then live out as they do here, but for the rest of
the year they have to be fed on barley, of which

there is but little, or more commonly on dates.

There are no trees, if we understand him rightly,
but the palms, and no cultivation but the gardens
round the towns.

About Ibn Eashid, he said that he was a Sham-
mar, and he talked of him as the Sheykh (not King).
He was Vakil to Ibn Saoud of Eiad, — “ as it were,
his cavass,”- — ^but very rich ; and he repeated the
story about the three camel loads of gold sent to
Mecca. Ibn Saoud was King of all Arabia. We

* Arabs, wben drawing water from a well, fix a tent pole or
other piece of wood across the month and then draw up the leather
bucket by a rope over it, not gathering the rope in coils as we do,
but running with the end of it as far as is necessary to bring the
bucket to the top. They naturally, therefore, measure the depth
4of a well by the distance the rope is trailed along the ground.

PEI

and IS equally disquaiifler W?

Toessan

Bulad, of whi
is said was
Arabian, *
inijbutin them

uri
i. Arnal

K. Ann J
K. Jenn^h i
lazali

Kabdan

^oklani,

?>^ed found

^ I’ersia.

^ * The celebn
pcertain this f

Jioroughbred

breed.

To face Page 27Q.

PEDIGREE OF THE ARABIAN THOROUGHBRED STOCK.

CH. XIII.]

Smeyr on Nejd Horses.

277

asked him for an introduction to Ibn Eashid, but
he is evidently not on such terms with him as to
give this. He added to Wilfrid, If yon were my
brother, I would not advise yon to go near Ibn
Eashid. He does not like strangers. If yon were
to go to Hiyel to look about you (furraj), as you do
here, he would think you had some evil purpose.”

Wilfrid then inquired about the horses or rather
mares in Jebel Shammar, and asked if the Arabs,
there had the same breeds as the Mesopotamian
Shammar. “ Just the same,” he answered. “They
have Kehellehs and Jilfehs and Dakhmehs and
Meleyhas, just as with us. There are not many
horses (kheyl) bred there. Ibn Eashid buys all his
from the Bedouins — the best from the Anazeh.
There are few horses in Hiyel, and they are dear.
This is because there is no pastime for them the
greater part of the year, as there is in the Horth.”
Wilfrid : have heard that in Hejd there are

horses of a different breed from any you have here,
or rather that the Arabs there make no account of
breeds ” (alluding to Ealgrave’s account of the Eiad
stables). Smeyr: “Whoever told you that told
you ‘ kidb ’ (nonsense). There are no breeds in
Xejd but the breeds of the Bedouins, Seghiwi,
Jilfan, and the rest. Ibn Saoud, if he has any
horses, gets them all from the Bedouins. There are
good horses in Nejd and asil (thoroughbred), but
the Anazeh horses are the best.” He had never
heard of any Nejd breed. “ All Bedouins have tho

278 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xm.

same breeds of horses. There are none other asil.”
He had brought a mare back with him from Jebel
Shammar, a Jilfeh Stam el Boulad, for which he
had paid, besides another mare he had had to get
rid of, five camels and twenty sheep, but horses
were dear at Hiyel. He had known mares from
the Shammar fetch as much as twenty camels when
sold there. He took ns to look at this mare, which
was standing just outside. She is a chestnut with
three white legs, not particularly handsome or more
than fourteen hands two inches in height.

On the whole, we are pleasantly impressed with
Smeyr. He is a gentleman, though not of a very
refined, still less of a very romantic type. But he
has the politeness to perceive when we wish to talk
and when we wish to be alone, a thing we have not
met before. He has not been inside a town for
many years, and seems more like a man of the
world who has forgotten part of his manners, than
a rustic born and bred. He is quite without pre-
tence, indeed rather less dignified than he should
be ; but I fancy he is poor and bullied by Ferhan
and his sons, at least Ali says as much. I can’t
quite make out what his relations with Faris are.
There is certainly a coolness, if not worse, between
Ferhan and his brother. Smeyr is first cousin to
them both, his mother having been a sister of Sfuk.
He has a younger brother, Ghathban, living here in
a separate tent, and several grown-up children, all
by the same wife, for he has only one. The men

€H. XIII.]

Smeyrs Wife.

279

here are very different from those in Ferhdn’s
camp, being, I should say, quite pure Shammar.
They are well behaved, merry, good-natured people,
and do not crowd about our tent or ask tiresome
questions. They seem poor, much poorer than the
Haddadin, and have but few mares. The only
very talkative man in camp is a Mosulawi, a strik-
ing contrast to all around him. He is a young
man, fat, smooth-faced and red-haired, with a
curious mincing accent, and great play of^ pudgy
white hands in speaking. What he is doing here I
can hardly make out. But Wilfrid has bought
some tobacco from him, and I see him sometimes
writing letters, and sometimes mending clothes for
the Arabs. Perhaps he is a general trader. They
seem to Hlce him, and sit open-mouthed listening to
his interminable stories and accounts of what is
going on in the world, tales of the war, the Muscdv
and the Sultan. The Shammar are much more
“ Turkish ” in their sympathies than the Arabs we
met on the Euphrates, and this, I fancy, is because
they are more pious. Smeyr and most of his people
say their prayers regularly, and one of the first
questions he asked was whether we were Muscdvs.

Smeyr’ s wife, Sukr (Sugar), is a middle-aged
person of well-bred appearance, and possessed of an
intelligent, pleasant face. She received me, when
I called this evening, with all possible honours,
cushions, pillows, dates, butter and the rest of it.
There were with her several sons and daughters,

28o Bedo^dn Tribes of the Euphrates, [oh. xxu.

a son’s wife, a grandchild and a son-in-law, besides
a brother who came in while I was there and kissed
her, and then sat with his arm roimd her neck, A
huge caldron of camel’s milk was simmering on
the fire, and rice was being added to it every now
and then from a basket. At other fires other
caldrons were full of meat. Three large camel-
saddles and some dirty mattrasses were the only
furniture. I like these people better than those
of any harem I have seen. They are simple, merry,
and kind.

But this is surely enough for to-day.

CHAPTEE XIV.

I said to Time, “This venerable pile,

Its floor the earth, its roof the firmament.

Whose was it once ? ” He answered not, but fled
Fast as before. I turned to Fame, and asked
“ Names such as his, to thee they must be known.

Speak ! ** But she answered only with a sigh.

And, musing mournfully, looked on the ground.

Then to Oblivion I addressed myself,

A dismal phantom, sitting at the gate ;

And with a voice as from the grave, he cried,

“ Whose it was once I care not ; now ’tis mine.’*

Rogebs.

The city and palace of El Haddr — We are mobbed in the ruins —
Smeyr sends us on our way — We put our house in order and
march westwards — Quarrel with Ismai'l — He leaves us — We
discover salt lakes — A wade through the mud — A silly old
man — Earis at last.

March 9. — We have been spending the day at El
Haddr, and have been far more interested than we
thought to be. It had been agreed overnight that
Smeyr should move his camp, and we ours, to the ruin
to-day ; so, as soon as we had had coffee and made
arrangements with Hanna for the day’s march, we
started. It was but three miles, and we galloped all
the way, leaving Smeyr and a couple of his men Avho
Avere riding Avith us far behind. Their mares had
lately foaled, and they did not care to press them.

As Ave came near the ruins, Ave Avere surprised to
find a really large city in tolerable prcseiwation, Avith

282 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xiv.

great part of tlie walls and towers and even some of
the houses still standing. Its situation is a charm-
ing one, in the desert it is true, but in a desert
which might easily he mistaken for one of those
great rolling downs one sees in Wiltshire, only that
here a multitude of flowers are mixed up with the
grass ; scarlet tulips the counterpart of our garden
ones, purple stocks, marigolds^ and a pretty blue
flower called by the Arabs holidtteyr. In all the
hollows there is now thick grass, pasture sufficient
for twenty times the number of flocks there are to
eat it ; and the ruins rise out of a bed of green, like
ruins preserved for ornamental purposes in England.
The town is nearly square, and covers perhaps an
area of two miles. The walls and fortifications are
of massive hewn stones. They seem to have been
overthrown, in part at least, by earthquakes, for in
many places there are deep cracks in the masonry
indicating a “ settlement ” of the ground beneath
them. The houses, such as still remain standing,
are merely square blocks without internal divisions
or more than a single doorway, and a hole or two
high up to admit light. Their roofs are arched, and
remind, one a little of the more modern houses of
Syria. They belong, however, certainly to classic
times, and there is little or no appearance of the
city having been reconstructed, as so many were,
by the Caliphs.

In the centre stands the palace, a really noble
building. The outer wall enclosing it, like every-

CH. XIV.]

The Palace of El Haddr.

283

thing else in El Haddr, is rectangular, and each
face of the square is perhaps a quarter of a mile in.
length, and as solidly built as the walls of the city
itself. The courtyard thus formed is perfectly level,
and appears to have been paved throughout. Within
stand several buildings, temples, arches, and single
columns and, towering over all, the palace itself.
This, as I have said, is really imposing, and has a
facade towards the East, which in the day of its
glory must have been the principal wonder of this
part of the world. In idea it is not unlike
Ctesiphon, except that, instead of a single open
court of gigantic dimension, there are here four
smaller ones; but the arrangement is similar, and
each hall leads by a low door to a suite of smaller
apartments beyond. The principal of these halls
of audience, for such they undoubtedly were, is or-
namented with pilasters, bearing on each of them
a group of three human faces carved in stone.
Above, runs a cornice of the common egg and
tongue pattern, and then there are the remains of a
vaulted roof springing from a second cornice. The
faces are not in the purest style of art, but are
sufficiently well cut for decorative purposes, while
the mouldings and architraves of the doorways are
more carefully executed and are very beautiful. I
have taken drawings of some of these. They would
make beautiful chimney-pieces, if one could get
them to England. Three of the faces have been
carefully cut away with a chisel and are gone.

284 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xiv.

To me the most interesting part of the palace is
the suite of inner rooms, lying behind the halls of
audience, for some of these are quite perfect and in
such “habitable repair” that, with a little sweeping
out and clearing away of rubbish, one might go in
at once and take possession. One room in particular
would pass without much comment in London as a
dining-room, with its coved ceiling, Corinthian
cornice, and handsome architraves. One can see
that the walls were intended for tapestry, for below
a certain height the stones have been left rough,
while above it the surfaces are nicely polished. The
whole palace is built of a handsome red sandstone,*
which is so well preserved, especially in these inner
rooms, that the masons’ marks are still perfectly
distinct. They look like the letters of an alphabet
— ^but what alphabet ? On one of the walls there is
an inscription in Arabic, and another in a character
similar to the masons’ marks. The building is
admirably finished — each stone beautifully fitted to
its neighbours, without flaws or spaces, or any
“ scamping ” of the work. Here we have wandered
about all day drawing and taking measurements ;
but it is impossible to give a correct idea on paper
of the beauty of all that we have seen. Nobody
here knows anything of the history of El Haddr,
neither do we.f

* Brought from the Sinjar hills. The natural rock of El Haddr
is a friable limestone.

t El Haddr is no doubt a Greek city of nearly the same date as

CH. XIV.]

A Mob of Women.

285

% % % %

We were driven from our meditations in tlie
palace, by an invasion of the youth and fashion of
Smeyr’s camp. They had finished their work for
the day, the work of pitching tents and unpacking
household furniture, and were now at liberty to
spend an idle afternoon in the noisy fun which
Bedouins love. At first they left us unmolested,
and merely ran about the ruins laughing and shout-
ing, but by degrees they gathered round us, and, as
it is not the custom to refuse one’s company to any
who wish to share it, we soon found ourselves in the
midst of a rather uproarious mob.

The men were civil enough, and perhaps the
women meant to be so, but they and the children
pressed so closely round me that I had to give up
my drawmg, and escape as I best could to the top
of a pile of broken columns under a wall. Even
there they followed me. Some of the girls were
really very pretty, with bright laughing faces and
teeth like pearls. But the old women Avould uisist
upon handling and pulling at my clothes, to feel
what they were made of, and the children Avould
not be repressed from sitting almost in my lap.
Meanwhile, the older boys had begun to throw
stones at the carved faces on the wall, great fun

Palmyra, It is mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela as still existing
on the road to Bagdad. It was possibly destroyed finally by the
Tartars. Palmyra was as uninhabited as El Haddr a hundred
years ago.

286 Bedouin Tribes of the Euph7'ates. [ch. xiy.

no doubt for them, but distressing for us to look
on it. Fortunately the natural stone of El Haddr
is softer than that of the buildings, and no serious
damage was done while we were there. Only the
stones began to fall in a rather reckless way, and
as the elder people, who might have maintained
order, were away, Wilfrid thought it best we
should retire before an accident happened. So,
putting the best countenance we could on our
retreat, we said good-bye to the ruined palace. I
confess I was glad when we got back without
mishap to the camp. Smeyr excused his people’s
behaviour, when he heard of it, by remarking, if
I may translate it into Scotch, that “it was only
the laddies.”

He has been asking us for medicine to cure his
eyes, which have little the matter with them except
shortsightedness, and we have been at some pains
to explain that we have nothing which will cure
them. He asked us for “ sugar of Egypt,” mean-
ing, we supposed, sulphate of zinc, which we
happen to have ; and at first we thought of letting
him have some, till it appeared that he intended
taking it internally. The word “ poison,” however,
has nearly frightened him out of his wits, and he
begs for something else. He complains too, as
many do in this country, of indigestion, and no
wonder, when one thinks how the lives of Bedouins
are spent between starvation and feasting, and of
the mass of indigestible curds and ill-baked bread

CH. XIV.] An Attempt at Doctoring.

287

they devour. We have compromised matters, and
made him happy with half-a-dozen blue pills. To-
morrow we are to bid him good-bye.

Sunday j March 10. — I am afraid we were not
altogether as sorry as we should have been when
we took leave of our host this morning. Smeyr
has been very kind to us and has fallen in with
our plans in a way we had no right to expect of
him, and which may yet cost him some trouble
with his Sheykh, — and all without any clear
prospect of return at our hands. Nevertheless, we
could not manage to feel regret at going. The
fact is, life in an Arab camp is terribly irksome,
and the thought of exchanging the forms and
ceremonies of Bedouin society for the freedom of
the uninhabited wilderness was too much for us.
We could hardly conceal our joy. Fortunately
gratitude is not an Oriental virtue, and to eat and
drink with a stranger, and then to go away without
wishing him good-bye, is quite in accordance with
the best manners, so a little demonstration in our
farewell went a long way. Smeyr’s last words,
too, relieved us in part of our sense of obligation,
for it was a request that we would send him a
pistol from Deyr, “to protect him,” he said,
“ from the soldiers, — a revolver with five chambers
like the Beg’s.” This we made him a conditional
promise to do, — conditional, that is, on our having
a pistol to send and a chance of sending it. At
the Pasha’s tent we had given liberal tips to the

288 Bedouin Ti'ibes of the Euph'ates. [ch. xiv.

servants, as if we had been staying at a house in
Bagdad, but here nothing was expected beyond
the conventional crown-piece to the coffee-maker
and a shilling to the man who held our stirrups.
So amid benedictions we departed.

At first our way lay through the ruins, which I
find more extensive westwards than I had imagined
yesterday, and we may have been half an hour
before getting clear away. Our course to the
Khabur we knew should be west-north-west or
west by north, and towards the latter point we
steered, Daessan, Smeyr’s confidential guide, a
little old man nearly blind leading the way. The
first thing, however, to be seen to was to put our
camp in order, for we are now on a serious, if not
a dangerous Journey, and cannot afford to hamper
ourselves in anyway, and Wilfrid at once proceeded
to weed our party of its useless components. The
Kurd, the black man, the boy, and the shepherd
still dogged our steps, and showed no sign of an
intention to leave us; and leave us we were
determined they should. However, on the principle
of dividing a bundle of sticks, Wilfrid deemed it
best to get rid of them in detail, so, riding up to
the four, who were together, he asked them what
they wanted and where they proposed going.

“We are the Pasha’s servants,” they said, “and
will travel with you till we get to his camp.”

“ And this ‘fellah,’ ” (pointing to the Kurd) “is
he the Pasha’s servant too ? ”

CH. XIV.] We send away Camp Folloiuers. 289

“ Oh no,” said the others ; ‘‘he is only a Kurdish
tdjer^ a merchant going to sell tobacco.”

“A Kurd, indeed ! — a merchant ! — a fellah ! I
cannot have such people with me. It is a disgrace
to the camp. Let him he off ! ”

This suited the prejudices of the other three,
who, according to Bedouin custom, naturally de-
spised their fellow-traveller for his city origin, and
they made no more ado, but abandoned him to his
fate. With as terrible a voice as he could command,
Wilfrid bade him begone, and the man, after
appealing a little and lingering a little, obeyed.
As he went he called on the shepherd to follow
him, for I fancy the two had come to an arrange-
ment beforehand, and so we got rid of them both.
The shepherd, whom Wilfrid had made friends
with, and who had been useful to us in naming
plants and occasionally lending a hand in loading
and unloading the camels, came very civilly to say
good-bye, and Wilfrid made him a trifling present,
which he evidently did not expect, for he looked
up in astonishment at the piece of silver, and then,
invoking blessings on us and ours, kissed our feet
and ran after the Kurd. We could see them for
nearly an hour afterwards travelling, tlie one on
his donkey, the other on foot, toAvards the south-
Avest.

■ The negroes, now left alone, assumed a very
humble tone, and for the first time made a show
of being of use, and, as the elder is really a servant

VOL. I.

290 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [oh. xiv.

of Ferlian’s, we have let them follow us for “ one
night only,” — being pretty sure that they will
leave us when they find out where we are going.
The negro slaves give themselves immense airs-
among the Bedouins, affecting, what is quite
opposed to their character elsewhere, a grave and
solemn demeanour. This comes in part from their
having always lived in the tents of Sheykhs and
great people, and having been generally brought up
as companions to the boys of the house, and partly
from their being stricter Mussulmans than their
masters. They are treated by these on a footing-
almost of equality. At any rate, they have
considerable influence, and come and go and sit
down with the rest just as it suits them, so that,
unless we are to quarrel with Ferhan, it will be as
well to conciliate his blacks. Still we are travelling
in a barren land, Avliere Avater has to be carried
as well as food, and extra mouths are a burden.
In any other countries but these, parasites of this
kind would endeavour to propitiate those they live
on by making themselves useful, but here nothing-
of the sort can be expected. N’either the black
slave nor the Kurd haA*e ever deigned to put their
hands to a rope, or so much as minded a camel,
Avhile the boy squats in the tent as soon as it is
pitched, and laughs impertinently if told to move,
and on the march complains loudly if he may not
ride one of our camels. Yet this little negro is
a mere outcast, loft behind by a caravan some

CII. XIV.]

Daessait — a Blind Guide.

291

montlis ago, and living on charity ever since. He
is now on his way, he says, to his friends at Deyr.

This matter of camp followers settled, onr next
anxiety was to come to a clear understanding with
Daessan, as it had not yet been formally announced
to Ismail that the Pasha’s camp is hut a secondary
object in our journey, and that Paris and the
Khtibur are really our destination. To manage
this it Avas necessary to get Daessan alone, so I Avas
deputed to engage Ismail in conA^ersation and linger
behind, Avhile Wilfrid rode on and settled matters
Avith our guide. It is just as Avell that Ave did
this, for it turned out that Ismail had already been
at Daessan on the subject of our route, and the old
man had been half persuaded to gHe in to him.
Put, noAV that he clearly understands AAdiat is ex-
pected of him and AA'hat he has to expect of us, I
think AA'e may depend upon his loyalty. He seems,
hoAveA'er, to be afraid of Ismail, AAdio is a great big
bullying sort of a felloAV, and he requires the con-
stant support of our presence to keep straight upon
his course, instead of folloAving Ismail, aa'Iio is alAAuys
edging aAA’ay to the south. It is lucky that Ave are
accustomed to desert travelling, or Ave should be cn-
tu'cly in their hands ; but, by dint of perseverance
and constant attention to the position of the sun, AA^e
have managed to make a capital march of it to-day,
nearly thirty miles, and all in the right direction.

Objects of interest there Avere feAV on the road,
an old track leading from Mosul to Ana, and

292 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [cn. xiv.

anotlier from Mosul to a suhhlcha or salt lake called
Ashgar, being tlie only interruptions to otu* pathless
course across the plain. A caravan, we are informed,
travels once a year along the former of these two
roads, accompanied by a mixed escort of Shammar
and Anazeh to protect it, on toll paid, from ghazus;
and the latter is an occasional route for parties sent
by Government to get salt. Ashgar is three days’
journey from Mosul, but long days, as from the
point where we crossed the track it was seventy
miles as the crow flies. About the middle of the
day we sighted some camels on the horizon, and
there was the usual alarm of a ghazii ; but the
caravan, if it was one, went its Avay without ex-
changing signals with us, and shortly afterwards
we came to the edge of a large brackish lake, on
which immense flocks of flamingo (naaj) were feed-
ing. This, Daessan informed us, was the Svihbkha
Ommuthsiabeh. It is tlu’ee miles long by one
broad, the greater length being from north to south,
and we skirted its southern shore. It and another
lake, still larger, called Ubuara (twelve miles long
Daessan said), are fed from small streams issuing
from the Sinjar hills, and have, except in the
driest seasons, water fit for camels, though not for
other animals. Hot far off we came upon a small
camp of Haddadfn, where the women gave us milk,
their husbands being away. It was the hour of
afternoon milking, and the fresh sheep’s milk was
very refreshing, for we had had nothing all day.

CH. XIV.] Ismail gives Trouble. 293

The women were gossiping, good-natured creatiu-es,
and very pleased to get an opportunity to talk.

Still we went on, Ismail becommg very restless,
and looking out constantly over his left shoulder,
and declaring that we Avere going the Avrong AA'ay,
in spite of all our attempts to engage him in
conversation ; but fortunately he is mounted on a
Avretched kadish and cannot get on ahead of us,
so he has to he content AAnth complaining. It Amy
nearly, hoAveAnr, came to a crisis, Avhen, from some
rising ground, he caught sight of tents far aAAny to
the south-Avest, Avhich he declared must he the
Pasha’s. “Ya heg, ya heg,” he cried, ‘‘they are
there, the Jerha, the tents of Yaif and Perhan.”
But Ave Avould not listen, saying there Avere only
fourteen tents, for aa’c had counted them, and
maintaining that such a camp could not possibly
be the Pasha’s. “ At least,” he. pleaded, “ Ave
shall have a lamb to eat there and bread and lebben,
AA'hile further on there is nothing but chol —
nothing but chol ” — giving the doleful accent to
the Avord AAdrich toAvnsmen use Avheu talking of the
desert. Still Ave paid no attention to his remon-
strances and Avent steadily on, the camels doing
their Avork braA'cly at the rate of tlnee miles an
hour.

The best AA'ay to manage camels is to keep them
going at a steady pace all the morning, for they do
not care to cat during the forenoon, and then, Avhcn
the sun bcgms to decline, to let them feed as they

294 Bedottin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xir.

go. This of covirse delays them a little, yet our
camels will march feeding at the rate of two and a
half miles in the hour. At least tAVO hours before
sunset they should be allowed to stop, and turned
loose to get all they can before it is dark. If there
is a moon they Avill go on grazing half the night,
otherAvise they must be collected round the tents
during the last minutes of twilight, Avhen they Avill
sit quietly cheAving the cud all night. They require
no Avater during the AAunter (ours have not touched
a drop since they left Bagdad), or as long as they
get grass during the spring ; but if fed on beans, as
they are in Egypt, they must drink at least eA^ery
four days in Avarm Aveather. Here they get no
food at any time but Avhat they can pick up.

To-day we have done much more than a usual
march, and it Avas five o’clock before the tents Avere
pitched. We had some difficulty in choosing a
proper spot for camping, as the latter half of our
day’s jomney had been across a barren tract of
land ; but, just as we Avere beginning to despair of
finding better, Wilfrid espied a tell some Avay off
the road, Avhich he thought looked green, and
galloped off to it, and sure enough it AA^as coA^ered
with bohatteyr, a green plant Avith a blue flower,
like nemophila, Avhich horses and camels alike
appreciate. Here Ave are noAV, and a delightful
spot it is : a single mound in the middle of the
plain, rich in this herbage to the top. Half AA^ay
up there is a fox’s earth, and beloAV, a colony of

‘CH. XIV.]

“ Terrors of the Desert!'

295

jerboas, which this warm evenmg are sitting at the
mouths of their burrows looking at us in astonish-
ment.

March 11. — To-day matters came to a crisis Avith
Ismail, and he is gone. The tAvo blacks also liaA'e
left us. All last night and this morning Ismail AA’as
AAwking the old tales of danger and gliazus, expa-
tiating on the terrible nature of the desert north
of us, contrasted AAuth the delightfully inhabited
regions of the south — want of AA’ater, AA'ant of grass,
AA'ant of ‘‘ Arabs,” of all except plundering bands of
Anazeh, AA'ho, by his account, perpetually scour these
inhospitable regions, robbing and slaying those AAdio
venture there. Ali and Hanna and the tAAm Agheyl
AA^erc much impressed by these sad stories, and CA^en
Daessan occasionally chimed in, “He did not knoAV
the road ; he did not knoAv AAdiom aa’o might meet ;
he did not knoAV Avhere AA^e should find Faris. Per-
haps it AA'ould be better first to go to Ferhan, or at
least to Half, Avho AA'Ould send people Avith us. It
AA"as not all quite right betAveen Ferhan and his
brother ; the Khiibur AA^as clean out of our road to
Deyr,” &c., &c. The AA'eight of public opinion in
the caravan AA'as against us ; and all aa'C could say
in support of our aucaa^s AA^as, that the camels AAxre
ours, and that those Avho liked might IcaA'c us. Of
this, of course, there Avas no question among our
OAATi people, and Ismail AA^as evidently loath to part
Avith us, not, I fear, from affection, but from love
of the backshish he had so nearly earned.

296 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiph^'ates. [ch. xiv.

We had no sooner started than it became evident
that Daessan had been got at ” dru’ing the night,
for he no longer kept his course fairly, but suffered
Ismail to lead him astray whenever our attention
Avas directed elseAvhere. Excuses Avere easy to give
for this : “ There was a siibhklra in our Avay AAdiich
Av'ould haA'e to he turned by a eircnit to the south-
west ; AA'e had come too far to the north yesterday ;
he must go a little to the left to get his hearings.”
The contest hetAveen Wilfrid and Ismail soon al-
most became a physical one for the possession of the
little man, one riding on one side and the other
on the other, and each trying to edge him off to
right or left, like the spirits of good and evil tempt-
ing a human soul. At last the crisis came. Ismail
having stopped behind for a foAV minutes to say his
prayers, Wilfrid profited by this to get a good point
northAvards, so that Avdien Ismail succeeded in over-
taking them he AA^as so much out of temper that he
declared he Avould go no further. The black man
and the hoy Avere already gone and out of sight,
having made aAvay nearly due south ; so a halt Avas
called, and Ave all sat cIoaath on the ground to discuss
matters. The strong point of our case Avas, that
physically AA^e could do as Ave liked, and Avere free
to turn the camels’ heads to any point of the com-
pass Ave chose ; the AA^eak one, that Ave could hardly
go Avithout introduction of any kind to Earis, and
it AA^as necessary that one or other of the Shammar
should remain Avith us. Ismail’s strong point AA'as

CH. XIV.] Under which King ? Bezonian !

297

the desire ^xe had ahyays expressed of paying Fer-
han a visit, and the shame (a'ib) it Avonld be to pass
so near his tent without stoj)ping. The conversa-
tion, then, was something of tliis sort. Ismail:
“Yon do not wish then to see the Sheykh ? Fer-
han Avill not be pleased.” Wilfrid: “We wish to
see him, but where is he ? ” Ismail : “ Out there
with Yaif,” pointing semicircnlarly round half the
sonthern horizon. Wilfrid: “And Faris, Avhere is
he?” “Away on the Khabnr, close to Deyr,”
j)ointing in almost the same direction. Wilfrid:
Nonsense, that is the road to Anah. I have an en-
gagement to meet a friend at Deyr in five days,
and I want to see Faris.” Ismail : “ Five days ! it
is quite close. The Pasha will send you there to-
morrow.” “ But Avhere is the Pasha ? ” “ You

see that hill on the horizon : come with me there,
and I will show you his house.” “Let us go ; but
mind, if I don’t see it, good-bye.”

There Avas not mnch danger in making this
promise, and although the hill (or rather the little
indentation on the horizon) Avas some five miles out
of our AA'ay, Ave thought it prudent to go so far
Avith Ismail, that avo might not seem uiiAvilling to
see his master, Avhom avc liaA^e no Avish to ofiend
(and passing close to a great man’s camp Avdthont
stopping is a serious matter), so avo altered our
course, and noAV held on nearly straight to tlici
south. Ismail seeing he had gained his point had
become good-humoured, and avc, Avishing to part

298 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xiv.

friends with him, explained the difficulties of our
position as to Faris and his master, both of whom
we had not time to visit. If the whole truth must
be known, one of onr principal objections to
meeting the great man was, that we had only one
gold embroidered cloak left, the one destined for
Ferhan having been given to Snieyr, and we did
not like to appear empty-handed at his tent.
Daessan followed in silence, for he is not much
addicted to words, and Ali and the rest of our
followers were of course in high delight. “ In
another moment we shall see the tents,” exclaimed
the enthusiastic Hanna, “ a lamb will be killed,
perhaps a young camel, and we shall at any rate
sleep among the Arabs to-night ! ” “ Inshallah ”

they all chorused, and so we rode on.

The little hill, on nearer approach, turned out
to be nothing but a mound transfigured by the
muage, and made to look great only from the
surrounding level of the plain. Beyond it, how-
ever, the ground sloped away rapidly ; and, in
truth, it commanded a very considerable view.
Here we halted, straining onr ej^es in every duec-
tion for the vision of black dots which should
represent an Arab encampment, but nothing was
visible for miles and miles. Ismail, however, was
not so easily abashed. On the far horizon, perhaps
fifteen miles away, rose a flat-topped hill easily
recognisable, and very likely really recognised by
him. To this he pointed triumphantly : “ There,”

CII. XIV.]

Ismail Deserts.

299

he said, “ is the house of Xaif, and there the Pasha
ahides.”^ — “A day’s journey,” we replied; you
will get there to-morrow, but ^ve must go on our
way.” — “ At least,” he pleaded, ‘‘go a little way
towards it, as far as the tent you see down there.”
We kneAV there was no tent, but the object he
pointed to was not far off, and we agreed to satisfy
him, so, bidding the caravan wait, we galloped
dovTi the sloping plain. The object, on nearer
inspection, proved to be a pile of bushes marking
the spot where a tent had been, but long ago.

Just as we made this out, a string of camels hove
in sight a mile or two away. Ismail seemed
alarmed, declaring there were horsemen with them,
but Ave could see Avell enough this was not the case,
and galloped on towards them, Avishing to set the
matter at rest as to the Avhereabouts of the Sham-
mar, for the party seemed to be travelling from
the south. We Avere determined, too, to get our
information unadulterated by Ismail’s colouring,
and so let our mares out, and left him on his old
kadish Avell in the rear. As Ave rushed Aip to them
at full gallop, Avith guns in our hands, it is not
strange that the people Avith the camels should
liaA'C becji a little alarmed. They halted and
formed square, as I may say, to receive our charge.
They Avere ten men on dromedaries, armed Avith
lances, but they had no fire-arms Avith them. We
pulled up a fcAV yards in front of them, and asked
them Avhence they Avcrc and Avhithcr going ; to

300 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xiv.

wliicli tliey replied that they came from Ferhan,
and were on their way to Tell Afar, a town of the
Sinjar, to hny corn. The camels Avere not laden.
They informed ns that hlaif’s camp Ayas, in truth, a
little Avay beyond the flat-topped hill, the name of
Ayhich Ayas El Melifeh, hut that Ferhan had left
it, and Ayas Ayith his son Mijiiel, a day’s journey
further still. Ismail came up just as they told ns
this, and saAy that the game aa" as up ; so, AAdren the
men had ridden aAyay AAnth their camels, he came
to ns and said, Ayith a rather ghastly smile, that he
must Ayish us good-hye here. He had to he at
Half’s tent before night, and, if Aye Ayould not come
Ayith him, AA'hy he must leaAm us to oru* fate. He
couldn’t go AAnth us further north. He and Faris’s
people Ayere not friends. "We replied, “ So he it,”
gaA"e him a polite message to his master, and, to
his great joy and surprise, a present for himself.
We had gained our point, and could aflord to he
generous. So he Ayished us good-hye and yarious
blessings hetAyeen his teeth. Then, putting his
kadish into a feeble canter, he departed.

Circumstances had faAmiu'ed us, for Daessan Ayas
behind and the rest of our carayan out of sight, so
that no discussion AAnth any of our people had been
possible, and AAdien aa'O returned Aye had only to
announce Ismail’s dejiarture as a fait accompli.
Daessan, flnding himself relieA^ed from the burden
of Ismail’s presence, noAy made no objection to
giying us the true direction, and the camels’ heads

CH. XIV.]

Alone ill the Choi.

301

were turned north-west, while our followers, after
a few exj)ressions of disappointment, lapsed into
silence. "We travelled on thus for two hours, re-
gaining most of our lost ground. "Wilfrid was
then fortunate enough to discover a pool of rain
water, the first fresh water we had met with since
leaving El Haddr, and there we filled our goat
skins. We should have liked to encamp beside the
precious element, but Daessan, saying that seriously
there Avas danger in the country Ave Avere entering,
begged us to go a little further on. We are noAv
encamped in a wady, far away from all liAung
creatures, and nicely hidden from the surrounding
plain. Ali, Hanna and the rest are A’ery serious
and quiet this eA'ening, and AA^e hope to haA^e an
undisturbed night, having had troubles enough
during the day.

We are noAV in the heart of Mesopotamia (just
at the top of the second 0 in our map). The tents
have not yet been pitched, for fear of distant eyes
— for this is neutral ground, betAveen Eerhan’s
people and Earis’s, AAdiere nobody comes for any
good.

March 12. — Ali, Avdio had hitherto supported us
loyally in all our plans, came last night to our tent,
and sitting doAAm, explained that he considered it his
duty to warn us against persisting in our journey
any fiuther in the direction avc aa'ci’c taking. He
Avas convinced that Ave Avere going into an unin-
habited region, from Avhich avc should find no exit,

302 Bedoum Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xiv.

and quite in an opposite direction to that \yliich we
intended. He remarked, as was perfectly true, that
Daessan was blind, and could not he exjDected to
make a very efficient guide, and that we had only a
couple of goat skins with us, and seven people to
supply with water, to say nothing of the four horses
and the donkey. We had great difficulty in pacify-
ing him, for, in trnth, we were a little anxious
ourselves ; hut we got out the map and showed him
our position on it and that of the Khd,hur, Avhich
could not now he more than eighty miles off, as, in
spite of our loss of ground yesterday, we have been
making long marches. He was not convinced, hut
did not insist with his objections, and I am sure we
can depend upon him.

Daessan, too, Avas rather gloomy this morning, for
the tAvisting and turning about yesterday had put
him out of his reckoning, and he is so blind that he
had not been able to see the Tell Melffeh, and had
lost his hearings. He Avas nerAmus too about enemies,
and constantly begged us to keep a good look-out
for khayal. HoAVCAmr, Ave saw nothing hut some
bustards and a fox. Wilfrid and I rode in front
giving the direction, and he folloAved a little behind,
so that the camel division might not lose sight of
us. The country noAV Avas no longer flat, hut rose
rapidly before us, and after an hour or tAvo Ave came
to a high position, from Avhich, to our great delight,
Ave could see hills to the north, Avhich Ave kncAV must
he Jehel Sinjar; Avhile heloAV us, to our left, an

CH. XIV. We wade across a Lake. 305

immense lake appeared witli some high cliffs keyond
it. Here we dismoimted and waited for tlie rest to
come np. Daessaii, tliougli ke could not see these
things, recognised onr description of them, confirmed
ns in our recognition of the Jehel Sinjar, and gave
the lake a name, Sneyseleh. He told ns we should
have to go some way further in order to get round
the head of it, and asked us anxiously if we covdd
see no tents.

After a careful examination of the ground beyond
the lake, Wilfrid, who is long-sighted, made out
some black specks on a sort of plateau, with some
lighter specks around them, which by careful
watching Avere seen to moA^e, and he pronounced
them to be tents and camels. The encampment
appeared to be about six miles off, and Ave agreed
at once to go toAvards it. It lay to the Avest.
First, hoAvever, there Avas the subbkha to be circum-
vented, and Ave Averc obliged to alter our course
northAvards and skirt its shore, looking for a j^lace
where Ave could cross, for the upper part of the lake
was evidently quite shallow, though about three
miles in width. At last Ave came to the track of a
camel leading across the Avet mud, Avhich avo could
trace for a long distance till it disappeared in the
mirage, and Wilfrid, impatient to go straight to the
tents, determined to folloAV it, Avhilo Daessan and the
rest of the party should go round the head of the
lake. I foolishly went Avith him, and doubting the
soundness of the bottom did so on foot, but I had

304

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xiv.

not got more than a few hundred yards before I was
quite exhausted, and my boots and skirt were so
clogged with mud that I was unable to get any
further. I confess that I was rather frightened,
for already there was such a dense mirage that we
could not see anything round us but the uniform
expanse of mud, and we had left the camel track,
which meandered about, and I thought we were
going to end our days in this miserable place. But
'Wilfrid would not timn back, and at last I managed
to scramble on to my mare, and then found matters
less hopeless, for the mud was not really much over
her fetlocks, and did not get any worse. Also from
the higher position I could see better, and make out
the form of the opposite hills wavering through the
mirage. So we struggled on for an hour and a half,
and at last landed safely on the other side.

As we got to higher ground, we looked back
across the siibbkha for the camels, but they were
nowhere visible, being far away, rounding the head
of the lake ; but about half a mile in front we saw
a man standing, and rode up to him. He had been
watching, no doubt, for a long time, and asked us why
we had come across the lake instead of going round.
He told us, too, after the usual evasive answers
Bedouins always begin with, that the tents of his
people were those that we had seen from the other
side, and expressed surprise that we had been able to
count them from so great a distance. As soon as he
heard that we were not marauders, but travellers

CH. XIV.]

News of Paris.

305

on onr way to Faris, lie became very amiable, and
we all three sat down, while our mares grazed,
waiting for the camels to appear. This they soon
afterwards did, to onr no small relief. The man
told us he was a Gaet (one of the Shammar
tribes), and that his Sheykh, Beddr, was five or
six hours further on ; that Beddr was a friend of
Faris, and that Faris himself was at a place called
Sheddadi, on the Khabur, only a day’s journey be-
yond Beddr’s camp. This was indeed good news ;
and great was the rejoicing in our party when they
at last came up and heard it.

The man, who was a good-humoured honest
fellow, now put us on our road, pointing to a
line of hills, from which he declared we should
see Beddr’s camp. The ground rose rapidly from
the lake, and we travelled up an irregular incline
for another two hours, passing a nice pool of rain-
water covered with ducks, where we watered our
mares. The whole ascent above the subbkha must
be two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet ;
and the line of hills, as generally happens, turned
out to be the edge of an upper table-land, from
which a really magnificent view southward is ob-
tained, with the subbkha like a sheet of gold in the
middle of the lower plain. Beyond we could still
see the Melifeh hill, with its fiat top, a very promi-
nent landmark. Northwards and westwards the
upper plain also sloped away, an even expanse of
down, and about twenty miles off ran the line of

VOL. l.

306 Bedouin Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. xiv.

tlie Sinjar hills, and of Jehel Abdnl Aziz, which is
a continuation of them westwards. We looked in
vain, however, for any tents. For ourselves we
should have been quite content to stop where we
were, having water with us and grass, hut Daessan
and the others were in a feverish state of anxiety to
get on and sleep at a camp to-night, and again the
talk turned on ghaziis and other “moving accidents,”
so that we consented to continue, though it was
growing late. We made for a little tell about two
miles oh, and from it we at last saw tents, but far
away to the north. There the camels waited with
me while Wilfrid galloped on to a yet further tell,
from which he was to signal us by moving to the
right or left, or standing still or coming back
toAvards us. He stood still, and we knew by that
that he had seen something and that Ave were to
come on. A camp had been discovered, and not
more than two miles oh.

We are noAV enjoying the hospitality (if enjoy-
ment it can be called) of one Sayah, Sheykh of
a fraction of the Sabit Shammar, a silly old man,
Avith an enormous family of rather ill-bred children,
who bores ns to extinction. However, he has
killed a lamb for us and brought dates and butter,
and promises to take ns to Sheddddi no later than
to-morrow, and our dangers and difficulties at last
are over. Yet I regret the calm of the desert in
this noisy dog-ridden camp.

March 13. — Sayah’s hospitality was after all not

€H. XIY.]

A Silly Old Man.

307

of tlie purest kind, for it turns out tliat lie made
Hanna give him a mejidie for the lamb last night,
and then ate up nearly all of it himself. Our own
share consisted of the liver, the heart, and the
great fat tail, none of which we could eat. More-
over, liis wife borrowed our cooking-pots for the
feast, and troubled us with her company after it.
Hut these are things one has to put up with
without remark.

In the night there was a hard frost, and some
water I poured into a tin cup at six o’clock this
morning had ice on it at seven, a difference of
climate since yesterday which may in part he
accounted for by the extra three hundred feet we
have climbed. We left Wady Adig, for such is
the name of the little valley where we found the
Sabit camp, at half-past seven, and expected to
reach Faris’s tents this evening ; hut Sayah, who
volunteered to he our guide, has led us such a
roundabout dance all the morning that now, after
nine hours and a half of hard marching, we have
been obliged to stop.

Of all weariful old geese I think I never met
Sayah’s equal. When we asked him the direction
at starting, he answered in the tone of one putting
off the foolish questions of a child, “Never mind
(my dears) ; if you have a little patience, you will
soon see, I, Sayah, you understand, /” (pointing
to his chest) “will show you the road, and, please
God, we shall he with Faris before noon,” So off

X 2

3o8 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xiv„

lie started due north, and then half an hour after-
wards took a turn due west, and then north-west,
and then stopped a little to consult with Daessan,
and then appealed to us (for he too is short-sighted)
to say whether we could see no tents.

“ Whose tents ? ” we asked.

“ Oh, any tents would do. Our object was to-
go to Faris; and we must find out where Paris
was.”

The sun had begun to warm the ground, and
there was a strong mirage, so that for a long time
we could see nothing further than a few hundred
yards any way, and we began to suggest that a
straight line might be the shortest way of arriving
somewhere, if not at Sheddadi. But Sayah explained
sententiously that we were now travelling “ in the
desert, which was not at all the same thing as-
travelling in a town, and that Ave could not be
expected to know the way about as he did. He
Avas a Bedouin, and Avas used to the desert from
youth upwards. We should soon find some tents,
please God, where Ave should learn the road.” We
Avandered on in zigzags all the morning, and at
last, coming to some higher ground, where there
were graves, discovered a large encampment of
forty or fifty tents, far away to our right under
the Sinjar hills. This range is A^ery beautiful,
and not further ofi noAV than twelve or fifteen
miles, so that we can see or fancy Ave see patches
of green trees and gardens at the foot of the slopes..

■CH. XIV.] The Blind Leads the Blind. 309

Sayali tells us there are fifteen villages in different
parts of the range, inhabited by a Kurdish race
called Zedfehs,* worshippers of Satan, who cul-
tivate gardens of figs, grapes, and pomegranates,
and wear black turbans on their heads.

Sayah wanted of course to go to these tents, hut
we knew they must he far out of our way, if Faris
was on the Khabur, and insisted on waiting till
something more nearly in our proper direction
should be sighted. Presently we came across a
large j)arty of Bedouins in marching order, moving
camp. It was a pretty sight. First of all came a
dozen horsemen with lances; then in a straggling
line some sixty baggage camels, some carrying
tents and pots and pans, others great Imvdalis full
of women and children ; then hoys and young men
on foot driving donkeys and surrounded by camp
dogs, with here and there a greyhound ; and lastly
herds of milch camels and flocks of sheep. They
Avere marching from north-east to south-Avest, and
so crossed our line at right angles. They informed
us that Faris had left Sheddadi and Avas gone do Am
the Khtihur. The tents Ave had seen to the north
Averc Beddr’s. They said there Avcrc some Ta’if
nearly Avcst of us, and to them Ave rcsolA'cd to go
Daessan informing us that Faris’s mother Avas from
those people, and that their Shejddi’s name is Ahd
cr Bahman, and that they number a thousand tents-

* Yczidis ; described by La5’ard and others,
t A “ noble ” tribe tributary to the Shammar,

310 Bedouin Tribes of the Eitphrates. [ch. xir.

At lialf-past tAvelve we crossed a track said to go
from Nisibin to Melkh Ubriara, wliere tke salt is,,
Nisibin being three days’ journey from here.

Soon after one o’clock Wilfrid andSayah galloped
on to get information at the Tax tents, which we
perceived a long way off. Sayah is well mounted
on a Seglawid Arjebi, a poAverful bay Avith a good
head, but I and my mare Avere tired and Ave lagged
behind sadly. When they got AAuthin three miles
of the Tai camp, Wilfrid stopped for me and sent on
Sayah alone for information, but, considering on
reflection that the old man if left to his OAvn de-
vices would be unlikely to appear again to-day, he
galloped on again after giving me instructions Avhat
to do Avith the camels AA^hen they should come up.
It was beantifnl to see Hagar, after all these days of
hard travelling, doing these three miles at almost
racing speed, for in her anxiety to rejoin Sayah’s
mare she Avent off like an arroAV. The ground
sloped gradually down toAvards the Tai camp, and I
could watch her progress all the Avay. After I had
Avaited alone for nearly an hour the camels came
up, and Ave Avent on to a little hill in our line, which
Ave had agreed should be our rendezvous. He
joined us there soon aftei'Avards, and said that he
had had great difficulty in getting away from the
hospitality of the Sheykh Hamid, a venerable old
man Avho appeared to be very rich. His tent Avas
the largest and best furnished Wilfrid had yet seen,
not excepting Ferhan’s at Sherghat. The ucavs-

CII. XIV.]

Paris at Last.

3”

learnt there was that Faris, Avho is this Hamid’s
nephew, moved dovm the Khabur in the direction
of Deyr this very morning and is not far off —
but we have lost so nincli ground to-day, that we
have stopped at the first good camping place we
could find after leaving the Tai, It is to my mind
a perfect camp, a holloAV in a rather high down
commanding a splendid vicAV of the Sinjar hills.
We have been cutting bundles of green stufi for
oiu’ mares to eat at night, for the corn has been
finished some days. It is a beautiful evening, the
moon just entering her second quarter, so that the
camels will be able to feed half the night, — an
evening Avhich Avell repays the hours of weariness
during the day, and even the miseries of last night’s
camp among the Sabit dogs and the Sabit w'omen
who so pestered us by peeping into oim tent.

CHAPTER XV.

‘“Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with
me, nor with my son, nor with my son’s son : hut, according to the kindness that I
have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast
sojourned.’

“ And Abraham said ‘ I will swear.’ ” — Genesis.

A gentleman of the desert and his mother, the Hatoun Amsheh
— Well-behaved boys — Tellal — Faris goes out shooting — He
swims the river — Swearing brotherhood — Rashid ibn Ali and
the Sheykh of Samuga — The Yezidis — A raft on the Khdbur —
Camels swimming — Farewell to Fails — A gallop in to Deyr.

March 14. — We are with Faris. I -write it with
some pride, when I think how many impossi-
bilities ” once stood in our way, and how doubtful
success seemed even so lately as three days ago —
yet in point of fact there has been neither difficulty
nor danger to encounter. Only a little obstinacy
was wanted ; and here we are.

At early dawn on the day of onr arrival we sent
out Sayah, like the raven from the ark, to see what
tidings he could bring of the Shammar chief’s camp.
He came back sooner than w'e expected, in less than
three hours, and announced success from a distance
at the top of his voice as he approached us. ‘‘ Faris
was close at hand ; he had seen him ; he had spoken
to him.” “ Shil, shil ” (load up, load up) ] “ we

TELLAL «TAllTd ON xV GHAZU.

cH. XV.] Shammar Mares and Camels. 313

shall be there in an hour.” Such was the joyful
news ; and though, like most Bedouin statements,
this one hardly bore out its first promise, for Sayah
had not really either seen or spoken to the Sheykh,
having only met a shepherd belonging to his
establishment, yet it was little past noon when we
rode into the camp we had looked for so long. The
first tent indeed would have been visible from the
top of the down, not half an hour’s ride from where
we stopped, if we had gone to look for it last night.

The tents of Faris’s people are scattered down a
long meandering wady perhaps a mile in length, and
at noon, the time of our arrival, had not a very
animated appearance. The sheep and most of the
camels were away at pasture, and only the mares
remained near the tents. The wady Avas Avhite as
snoAV Avith camomile in full floAver, the faAmiirite
food of camels, and on this account no doubt the
spot had been chosen. The mares Ave passed Avere
not particularly attractive — raAV-boned, half-stai’A^ed
creatures Avith their Avinter coats still on them.
But the Shammar have, I fancy, hut few fine horses
in spite of Sayah’s tales of Paris’s stud, “ each beast
Avorth a thousand pounds.” More attractive Avere
the neAV-born camels Avhich every here and there
peeped out of the herbage, creatures all legs and
neck, Avhich Avhen squatting close may Avell be taken
for gigantic birds, so little heads they liaA'c and
such immense eyes.

At a bend of the AA'ady Ave came suddenly on a

314 Bedouin Tribes of tJie Etfhrates. [ch. xv.

great tent, "vritli seven peaks, wkich we knew by its
size must be the Shejich’s. It was standing with
a dozen others just where the valley broadened out
into the plain, and as we rode np to it unannounced,
we began for the first time to feel a little anxious
about the reception Ave might meet with at the
hands of the man ^ye had come so far to see. But
we need not have doubted. As soon as Ave Avere
perceiA’ed, servants came out to meet ns and hold
our horses, AA’hile all those present in the tent
stood up and answered our salutation in a friendly
Amice. Faris himself, a young man of most attrac-
thm countenance, appeared fi oin the inner tent and
greeted ns AAuth a smile that had so much honesty
in it and good Avill that aa'o felt at once that we
were safe in his hands. He bade ns sit cIoato, and
made us comfortable AA'ith rugs and cusliions, and
sat himself beside ns and listened to onr compli-
ments and retiu’ned them gracefully and AA'ith the
ease of perfect good-breedmg. He inquired most
amiably about onr adA'cntimes since we left Deyr,
for he had heard of onr arrival there and CAmn of
oiu’ attempt to pay him a A'isit last month. He
said he had been long expeetmg us, and now we
must stay with him : his tent was our tent, his
people our people, and, though these and other
plu’ases are more or less couA’cntional in the East,
he put a tone of so much sincerity into the Avords
that they really touched us. His manner is quite
different to that of any one we haAm hitherto met

OH. XV.] A Gentleman of the Desert.

315

in the desert, for it is franlc and cordial, as if its
owner was sure enough of Iris own position to be
able to do without the stiffness and false dignity
most of the Bedouins affect when they are Avith
strangers. Indeed a better bred man it Avonld be
difficult to find. Such are our first impressions,
and I write them doAvn Avhile they are fresh. I
think Ave haA^e at last found that thing aa'c haA^e
been looking for, but hardly hoped to get a sight
of, a gentleman of the desert.

But I am tired and must put off further descrip-
tion till to-morrow, for avo are to stay here iioaa'
some days.

^ ^ %

March 16. — (I must condense Avhat I have
Avritten during the last two clays ; for my journal
has become a mere mass of notes, for the most part
taken from conA'^ersations we have had Avith various
interesting people here, and requires re-Avriting.)

By far the most important personage in Paris’s
camp, the young Sheykh himself not excepted, is
his mother, the Hatoun Amsheh*, better known in
the tribe as the “ Mother of Abd-ul-Kerim.” I
think it pretty and touching that they should retain
this title for her instead of calling her the IMother
of Paris, the rising sun among them, and that they
should thus do honour to the dead brother instead
of to him. But the fact is, Abd-ul-Kcrim Avas a

* Compare Lay aid’s account of licr as a young woman in
1843.

3 1 6 Bedouin Bribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xv.

liero whose name will linger for many generations
yet among the Shammar, as that of their greatest
man. During his lifetime the tribe was rich and
powerful, and enjoyed a prestige in the desert such
as it is hardly likely ever to have again ; for the
unity of the Shammar is broken, and, divided, they
never can contend on equal terms with their great
enemies the Anazeh. That he was a real hero of
romance it is not difficult to see ; for his memory
pervades the whole life of the family and tribe ho
has left behind him, and is the motive of three
parts of the loyalty with which the present Sheykh
is honoured. The mother of Abd-ul-Kerim is a
sort of holy personage, and object of veneration,
with all the tribes of Northern Mesopotamia. She
was, as I have already mentioned, a Tai by birth,
and sister of the Sheykh Hamid, whom Wilfrid
made acquaintance with the day before our arrival ;
and she must have been formerly very beautiful.
The Tai have the reputation of being the hand-
somest women in the desert. She is now old and
fat (fat, alas ! is the tomb of beauty) ; but in spite
of infirmities she is a most dignified personage, and
her will is law in all the camp. To-day Faris, like
the spoilt boy that he sometimes is, amused himself
with firing off Wilfrid’s rifle close to the tent, and
at last took aim at some goats belonging to a
neighbour. The old lady very properly thought
this undignified behaviour in the Sheykh, and sent
to tell him so, and he put down the rifle at once

CH. XV.] The Mother of Abd-zil-Kerini.

317

without a word. In Paris’s tent she reigns supreme,
allowing no other woman to share her power over
him. Even his present wife, a slave from the Tai,
lives in another tent. His first wife was a woman
of good birth, but she is dead; and there is one
son by her, a pretty boy of nine, named Salfij, who
is brought up by the Hatoun, along with Abd-ul-
Kerim’s son, Mohammed, and his daughter, Menifeh,
ten and thirteen years old, and a charming boy of
twelve, Tellal, the son of another brother, Abd-ur-
Eajak, also dead."'’ Both these boys are made more
account of in the tent than Paris’s own sons,
because they are orphans. They are all exceed-
ingly well brought up, and have charming manners,
besides being as straightforward, courageous boys
as you could possibly find in any part of the world.

I never saw a prettier sight than Tellal on his
chestnut mare, the day after our arrival, armed
with a lance three times his own length, doing the
fantasia with his uncle and a score of devoted re-
tainers, who, while they admired the boy’s courage,
seemed terribly afraid he should get hurt ; and all
the time the boy himself thought nothing, I am
sure, of danger, either to himself or to anyone else,
in the sport of pursuing and of being pursued, with
the steel point of a lance within six inches of his
back. He would gallop up to his uncle, as he was
riding beside us (for we were all marching in line,

* lie was shot by the Turks at the same time that his brother,
Abd-ul' Kerim, was captured.

3i8 Bedotun Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xv.

moving camp) and cliallenge liim, according to
Bedouin practice, by pretending to attack ns, and
then shoot away like an arrow, with Faris, who is
a magnificent horseman, thundering close behind,
and making his lance quiver over his head, and
then twist and turn and double till he managed,
thanks to his feather Aveight, to escape. He often
comes to our tent to look at the guns, and knives,
and strange European knick-knacks Ave haA^e Avith
us, and talks as sensibly as an English schoolboy
about his amusements and what he is going to do
when he groAvs up, and in just the same frank,
outspoken Avay. He Avas looking to-day at Wilfrid’s
dress-sword, a merely ornamental piece of goods,
given him by Mr. S. to wear on state occasions,
and Avhich Tellal Avas at first inclined to admire
from its being covered with gilding and having a
handsome belt ; but, having draAvn it, and very
cautiously felt its edge, and found it as blunt as
SAvord could be, his face put on an expression of
unutterable disgust, and he threAV it down, — “ It
isn’t fit for the Beg to wear,” he said ; “ feel
mine ; ” and he showed us an old blade as sharp
as a razor in a very shabby sheath, which had
belonged to his father. Wilfrid has taken a great
fancy to him.

Mohammed, too, is a nice boy, but shy, which
Tellal is not, and, being some years younger, only
rides a pony ; while Salfij is still in the nursery.
All three boys are, of course, the delight of every

CH. XV.]

A Well-behaved Family.

319

Arab in the camp ; for the men here are good-
natured to children, and these are the children of
their Sheykhs.

Among the Shammar there is a strong feeling
of loyalty towards what may be called the royal
family. It was Faris’s ancestor, Faris, who led the
Shammar from Nejd at the time of the Conquest,
two hundred years ago, and no pretender from any
other family has dared to claim the position of
Sheykh, to the prejudice of his descendants, since.'"'’
These children, therefore, have a double title to the
people’s regard, as sons of their heroes, and as sole

* The following is Faris’s genealogj^ which he gave ns to-day,
correcting it now and then by an appeal to the elder men about
him :

FARIS, who came from Nejd.
Zadd

Mejeren

Hham^idi

Faris

Sfuk Mohammed el Faris

Ii , ,

Naif Mesoul el Faris

I f" ^ ;i,

Ferhdia Abd-ul-Kerim Ahd-er-Rajak Fans

I )

I 1 , Salfij

Ali Tellctl

Ahd-ul-Mehsen Sfuk Mohammed

Eyssa Mijuel Jarrulla Muttlakh AV»d-iil- Abd-nl- Shellal Beudr

Mekhsia Aziz Hamid

320 Bedottin Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. xv.

representatives, witli tlie present Sheykli, of tlie
family of their chiefs. That Abd-ul-Kerim, the
scion of such a family, and their Sheykli and their
hero, should have been seized by the Turks and
hanged as a common robber on the bridge of M6sul,
makes every Shammar’s blood boil. Ferhan is not
reckoned as legitimate by the independent Shammar,
and is despised even by his own followers in the
south, because he is the son of a Bagdad woman,
“not a Bedouin at all — a mere fellah, a rayah.”
Faris’s accent of disgust, while using these words
of his half-brother, is very amusing. And Ferhan’s
sons are worse, tainted over and above with Kurdish
blood — “ real Kadishes.”

Faris himself has justified all our first impres-
sions in his favour. He is frank, goodnatured, and
agreeable ; and he and Wilfrid have become the
greatest possible friends. From the very outset he
took us into his confidence, explaining his relations
with Ferhan and with the Turkish Government,
and treating us as if convinced of our loyalty and
goodwill. His account of the desert politics, in
which he is beginning to play a conspicuous part,
has especially interested us. I have already men-
tioned the tragical death of his two brothers,
Abd-ul-Kerim and Abd-ur-Eajak, and his mother’s
flight to Nejd, and their sojourn there. On his
return, three years ago, he found Ferhan acknow-
ledged by the Shammar as their Sheykh, and the
whole tribe in danger of becoming perverted from

CH. XV.] Domestic Broils of the Ibn Sf tikes. 321

their ancient way of nomadic life by this Bagdadi,”
who had accepted the rank of Pasha from those
very Turks who had hanged his brother, and who,
in consideration of a yearly allowance, had agreed
to make his people cultivators of the soil, “ mere
rayah, and fellahin.” This the more high-spirited
of the Shammar have deeply resented, and Paris
no sooner appeared among them, recalling by his
presence the memory of the chief they had lost,
than he was joined by nearly half the tribe, and by
all those discontented with the new order of things.
Perhan, who cares more for his position at Bagdad
than for his real influence in the desert, and con-
scious, perhaps, of his own inferiority in birth to
his young half-brother, has not hitherto made any
vigorous attempt to control him ; but Paris com
plains bitterly of the machinations of the Pasha’s
sons, Eyssa and Mijuel, who are constantly attempt-
ing to involve him with the Turkish authorities, by
making raids on the fellahin tribes of the Euphrates
and throwing the blame upon Paris’s people.
Though not exactly at war, he and these sons of
Perhdn have once or twice come to blows, and on
one occasion Mijuel was wounded by his uncle’s
lance. Their people are not on speaking terms,
and the uninhabited region we have just crossed is
left by both sides as a neutral zone between the
northern and southern camps.

The very day of our arrival, Paris informed us
that he should be obliged to sacrifice the pleasure

VOI., I.

32 2 Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphrates. [ch. xv.

of our society to the necessity of heading an expe-
dition against his nephews, for they had attacked
a merchant of Mosul, travelling under his safe con-
duct, and had taken sheep and camels from him.
There was a great bustle in the camp ; horsemen
arriving from all points of the compass to have
their mares shod, in anticipation of the ghazii, for
the only blacksmith among them lives in the
Sheykh’s tent. But in the morning a messenger
arrived to say that all the stolen beasts had been
recovered, and Mijuel driven back to his own
country; so Faris has remained with us.

As to his relations with the Turkish Government,
he has been equally communicative. From the
time of his brother’s death he had not entered a
town or trusted himself in the power of any Turk
until a month ago, when our old friend, Huseyn
Pasha, acting, I suppose, upon the advice we had
given him, sent him a polite invitation to come to
Deyr, offering him at the same time Government
pay and support if he would help the Turkish
authorities to keep order in Mesopotamia. Faris,
being a young man and perhaps a little dazzled
at this token of consideration on the part of the
Government (for influence “in the town’’ has a
wonderful attraction to the Bedouin mind), went to
Deyr, and was received there with all possible
honour by the Pasha, who, to do him justice, is a
man of great tact and discernment, and, being
of Syrian not Turkish birth, has a certain sympathy

CH. XV.] We give Paris Advice. 323

^vith the people of liis district. There it was agreed
between them that Faris should keep order in the
desert, in consideration of a certain sum of money,
to be paid monthly — a not uncommon arrangement,
— and that he should receive Huseyn’s support and
countenance in his quarrel with Ferhan’s sons.

We are rather sorry to hear of this ; for, though
in theory it would no doubt be an excellent jDlan
for keeping the peace, yet in practice we know that
little good ever comes of such arrangements to the
Bedouins, and that the less they have to do with
pashas and governors, the more easy it is for them
to retain their independence. Faris, besides, is too
straightforward and simple-minded to engage in
diplomacy with Huseyn, and he ought never to
put himself into the hands of the official enemy of
his house. Huseyn, though with the best private
intentions, may find himself any day ordered to
arrest the brother of Abd-ul-Kerim, and Faris’s
position as a guest at the Serai will be no protection
to him then. We are glad to see that the elder
men of the tribe, who look upon him with as much
affection as if he were their own son, are quite of
this opinion ; and they were delighted when we
explained to Faris how dangerous it was for him to
go to Deyr. “ Has he not his house here,” they say,
“ and his people and his friends, that he must look
for them in the town ? He should remember the
fate of Ibn Mershid.” And after all Huseyn’s
protestations, it aj^pears that the promised money

324 Bedouin Ti'ibes of the Euphrates, [ch. xr.

has not been paid, insignificant as the sum is, and
that Faris’s Avork as zaptieh has been done
haldsh, gratis. But the Bedouins are like children
in their love of silver pieces, and will pursue the
prospect of touching a few mejidies like an ignis
fatims far beyond what its worth really is to them,
I am sure if Huseyn had offered him a thousand
sheep, Faris AA^ould not have gone out of his Avay
for them ; but the hundred Turkish pounds is quite
a different thing, and has just such a magical effect
as the fourpenny piece which children claim for
having a tooth out. He Avould not keep the money,
probably, if he got it, for a single day, but would
distribute it to those about him as he distributed
our cloaks and boots ; but it would be a vast plea-
sure to him to think that he had had such a sum in
his hands. Wilfrid has given him a deal of good
advice on these matters, all of which he takes in the
best possible spirit. “ You are my father,” he says,
“ and know better than I.” It is impossible not to
be fond of so charming a character.

In person Faris is small, as a true Bedouin should
be ; but he is a model of grace and strength and
activity. On horseback there is no one in the tribe
who can come near him ; and it is a fine sight to
see him put his mare to her full speed, and make
his lance quiver over his head till it almost bends
double ; and it is easy then to understand, what his
people say of him, that his presence on a ghazfi is
worth thirty horsemen. He is besides very good-

CH. XV.]

Paris Handles a Gun.

325

looking, with features typically Arabian, a clear
olive complexion not darker than that of a Spaniard,
an aquiline nose, black eyebrows meeting almost
across his forehead, and eyes fringed all round with
long black lashes. His smile is one of the most
attractive one can see ; and, if there is a fault in his
face, it is a slight want of resolution in the shape of
his under jaw, which makes one fear for him some
tragical ending like his brothers’, brought on by his
own waywardness. He is twenty-seven years old,
but looks younger, and every now and then seems
subject to fits of boyishness which appear unsuitable
to his position, though he can assume the greatest
possible dignity on occasion. In his manner to-
wards his people he is especially happy — respectful
to the old men, who spoil him, and unpretending
with his equals, among whom his personal qualities
give him so much ascendancy that he can afibrd to
be familiar without losing any dignity. His people
are evidently devoted to him, soul and body, and
proud of him as the handsomest man and the best
rider in Mesopotamia.

On the 15th, the day after our arrival, the ghazu
having been abandoned, we all marched together to
fresh camping-ground on the banks of the Khabur,
where just now there is abundance of grass and
camomile for sheep and mares and camels. It was
on this occasion that the fantasia I have mentioned
was executed in our honour, and that Tellal made
so capital a figure on his chestnut mare. Paris’s

326 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xr.

own mare is a tall bay, Sliu4ymeb Sbali, with a
powerful shoulder, great girth, legs like iron, but
a rather coarse hind quarter. She is not good-
looking. Indeed, we have not seen above three
good-looking mares in the whole of our journey
through Mesopotamia, the only really handsome one
being a grey Saadeh belonging to one of Paris’s
men, four years old, and standing about fifteen
hands. I do not, however, see any trace of mixed
blood in the Shammar horses, as some people main-
tain there is. The mares look thoroughbred enough,
if the head be an index, but they are defective in
shape and beauty. The great strains . of blood are
among the Shammar.

In the afternoon Wilfrid took the Sheykh out
alone shooting, as he wished to see how birds were
killed flying ; and he showed a childish pleasure in
the firing of gun and rifle, aiming sometimes with
the greatest precision at a crow a hundred yards off
with snipe-shot, and at others playfully letting off a
ball at a wagtail perched on a twig of tamarisk close
before him. It was dangerous Avork, but fortunately
no accident happened. Wilfrid shot a francolin,
which fell in the river, and Paris in an instant had
stripped and jumped in. The Khabur is deep and
strong, and has steep, muddy banks, so that Wilfrid
had some difficulty in getting his friend out again,
especially as the water was very cold. But Paris
was delighted, and came back in triumph with the
bird. It was amusing to see this powerful Sheykh,

CH. XV.] Swearing Brotherhood. 327

whose word is law in half Mesopotamia, excited like
a child with the adventure. But I like him all the
better for it.

This little episode, and the help Wilfrid had
afforded in getting him out of the river, has made
them such fast friends, that this evening, while we
were sitting talking in our tent about his early
troubles, and his hopes and prospects, and the plea-
sure our visit is giving him, he said that now he
and Wilfrid must be as brothers, “ to-day and to-
morrow and hereafter,” to which Wilfrid willingly
responded, for we both of us feel a real affection for
him, and his friendship for us has been quite of
spontaneous growth ; and so without more ado it
was agreed that they should take the oath of
brotherhood. Wilfrid told him how he w^as alone in
the world without brothers living, just as Faris was,
and with few relations that were much more good
comfort to him than Ferhan and his sons were to
Faris, and he declared that now, inshallah, he and
Faris should be brothers for the rest of their lives.
Then they took hold of each other by the girdle
with their left hands, and, holding their right hands
up as appealing to heaven, they repeated the pre-
scribed form of words very seriously, for this is a
pledge no Bedouin ever takes lightly. Faris began :
“ WalMh ! Wallahi ! ” (0, God ! 0, my God !)," and
Wilfrid repeated after him, “ Walhlh ! Wallahf !
Wallah! Walldhi!” each perhaps twenty times; then
“ Billdh ! Billahi ! ” (by God, by my God), “ Tilldh !

328 Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates. [ch. xv.

Tillalii ! ” (through God, through my God) ; “ akh-
wan, akhwan, el yom u bokra 0 baad^n, akhwan,”
(brothers to-day, to-morrow, and hereafter) — an
oath as impressive as those of our marriage service,
and considered quite as binding by those who take
it. This pledge of brotherhood, once taken, cannot
be dissolved. It binds the swearers to be hence-
forth brothers, as though born of the same mother,
in all things, except that it is no bar to marriage of
the one with the near relations of the other. Per-
sonal combat is henceforth not allowed, even if the
tribes of the two brothers should afterwards be at
war ; nor can the property of a brother be seized by
a brother or by any of his people. The swearers
have, on the contrary, a right to aid and assistance
in case of need ; and a brother, if called upon, is
bound to avenge his brother’s quarrel.

There was something so impressive in the cere-
mony that, for some minutes after it was over, we
all three sat without speaking, till Paris, seeming to
recollect that something more was necessary, got up
and, calling to his mollah, or secretary, who was in
the other tent, to come, made him attest the validity
of the act by stating to him what had happened.
Two witnesses, he informs us, are necessary to make
the oath binding ; but it is considered sufficient that
the second witness should be informed of the fact on
the day on which it takes place. The mollah put
his hand to his head, and said gravely: “ The Beg is
now one of our people ; let him come into our tent.”

CH. XV.]

Our New Relations.

329

He went on to tell the news to the rest of the
Sheykh’s household, and, when Wilfrid entered, they
all stood up, and the eldest made him a little speech
to the effect that this tent and all the Shammar tents
were his, and their camels and sheep and all that
they had ; and Faris said, “ You must stay with us.
Our people shall make you tents like their own, and
I will give you camels, and you shall live with us
instead of going away to your own country.” Wilfrid
tells me, and I can well believe it, that he was much
affected by all this, and that, come what may, he
shall always hold Faris truly as his brother, though
he may never be able, or bo called upon, to prove it.

March 1 7. — Our relations with the Shammar are
now on a quite different footing from heretofore.
Before it they were polite and friendly, but now Ave
are shown what is very like affection. The Hatoun
Amsheh sent for me and kissed me, and said that
she Avas noAv my mother, and that if we were ever
in any difficulty, inshallah, her son should help us,
I am sure these are not mere empty Avords. Faris,
too, Avho has up to this refused all our invitations
to eat or drink Avith us in our oaa’ii tent, Ave being
his guests, and Avho has alw'ays sat at the door
instead of coming inside, has now sent a message
through Hanna to “ his brother,” to say that he Avill
dine AAuth us. So Ave have produced our best curry
and burghul and SAveetmeats, and made him sit
between us, and poured a A\diole tin of sugar into
his coffee, the thing of all others Avhich he likes

330 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xv*

best ; for the Bedouins, who have none of their own,
have a craving for sugar. The dinner has been so
successful, that now he says he will take his meals
nowhere else, and I am afraid will find it difficult,
when we are gone, to go back to the coarse Arab
fare of his own tent. I hope Faris will remember
his brother and sister as long as we intend to
remember him.

Besides the Sheykh's household, there are two
most interesting persons, guests of the Shammar,
The first is Rashid ibn Ali (mentioned by Palgrave
as the only member of the old reigning family of
the Sheykhs of Jebel Shammar which escaped the
general massacre of the “ Beyt Alec,” on the con-
quest of that country by Ibn Saoud). He is a man
of fifty-five or sixty, of rather dark complexion, and
much muffled up about the face, but of an ordinary
Arab type of countenance, and undistinguishable in
dress or manner from the other Bedouins here. On
better acquaintance, one perceives that he is a well-
bred man. He was pointed out to us originally
as a man of distinction, by our little old guide
Daessan, who knew what an interest _we take in
Hejd and in Jebel Shammar, and who informed us
that Ibn Rashid had killed fourteen of his relations.
AVe have accordingly made his acquaintance, and
have got from him a deal of interesting information.
AVilfrid has cross-questioned him narrowly on the
subject of Nejd horses, and he confirms everything
that has already been told us by Smeyr and Daessan,

CH. XV.] A Gentle^naii from the Nejd.

331

stating most positively that there is no Nejd breed of
horses, ever heard of at Hiyel, nor any horses at all in
central Arabia but the horses of the Bedouins, whose
breeds are well-known and every vrhere the same.
He says that no horses are bred in the neighbour-
hood of Eiad, which is a country without pasture,
and that in other parts of Nejd the specimens are
smaller, and in no way better than the Anazeh
horses. He repeats that Ibn Eashid gets all his
mares from the Bedouins, mostly from the Anazeh,
and adds that Ibn Saoud gets what horses he has
from Ibn Eashid ; but the present Imam is not as
rich as his father F^ysul was, and has not in fact
many horses, while nobody else at Eihd has any at
all. The best horses in Arabia are the horses of the
Anazeh — especially the Sebda and the Fedaan.

With regard to Jebel Shammar, Eashid says that
the hills there are higher than the Sinjar; but he
does not talk of snow on them. Hiyel has a thousand
houses, walled houses, heyut hangar (he pronounces
his g’s hard, as in Egypt); but outside in the
Gehel there are twenty thousand tents, a few
of them only Shammar. Ibn Eashid himself is a
Shammar. One or two Franks have been to Hiyel,
one last year ; but Ibn Eashid had not received
them. He assures us that there would be no
danger to any one going to Jebel Shammar, but
that Ibn Eashid dislikes foreigners, and will have
nothing to say to them. If we wish to go there, he
will go with us. He is returning in a month’s

332 Bedotdn Tribes of the Euphrates. [ch. xv.

time, and we should stay with him at Hiyel as long
as we liked. He is going the way he came, and
that is by Huseyn (Meshid AH). This is an itine-
rary of the route he has given us, which may be
worth transcribing :

Huseyn to Gerimne .
Gerimne to Hessib . . .
Hessib to Shebitshi .
Sbebitsbi to Shebrum
Sbebrum to Beraja. . .
Beraja to Kbadra . . .

Kbadra to Troba

Troba to Baga

Baga. to Hiyel

one day
one day
one day
one day
one day

one and a balf day
two days
one day
one day

The three principal Bedouin tribes of Jebel Sham-
mar are the Duebi, the Ibn Heyt, and the Firrme ;
west of it are the Sherarat.

I should like to be able to accept Rashid Ibn
Ali s invitation to Hiyel, but we are not professional
travellers, and a summer in Central Arabia cannot
be thought of.

The other person of interest staying here is
Matu, Sheykh of Samuga, the principal village of
the Jebel Sinjd,r, and, of course, a Zediyeh. He is
here on business with Faris, connected with a
quarrel he has with the village of Sekinieh, and I
fancy he wants Faris to help him. He is a Kurd,
and is quite different in features from the Arabs,
and has besides certain peculiarities of dress, the
chief being the black head-dress of which we had
heard. He also makes us take notice that his shirt

CH. XV.]

A Devil Worshipper.

333

is cut square at the neck instead of being round ;
and this, too, we had heard of as a remarkable
point of distinction between the Zediyehs and the
Arabs, made almost as much of by the latter as the
belief that the Zediyeh worship the devil instead of
God, — for fashions in dress are more unalterable
than those in religion. He has told us a good deal
about his religion — more, I am sorry to say, than
we are quite able to understand. He denies, of
course, the worship of Shaictdn. According to his
account, the Zediyehs believe in one God and one
great prophet, with several lesser ones. They all
acknowledge Huseyn Beg,* chief of one of their
tribes north of the Sinjar, as the supreme head of
their religion. Mdtu’s words were, “ Melek ed
Taous, our prophet, is to us as Eyssa is to you, and
Huseyn Beg is to us as your Pope is to you.” He
says that they have two religious books, that of
Zabu, or Daoud, and that of Enjir or Eyssa, the
former accepted by all Zediyehs, the latter only by a
few, who have it in addition to the first. He adds
that they do homage to or worship the sun, “ like
the Parsees.” They have no restriction as to the
number of their wives, but usually take four. A
rich man, “ yakhud ketir amra,” takes many wives.
The Zediyehs eat the wild ass (wdhash), which is
common in their hills, but not the tame ass nor the

pig-

There are fourteen villages or places in the Jebel,
* Compare Layard.

334 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xv.

containing two tliousanci houses, some of stone,
some only tents. His own people live principally
in tents. He has given me the names of eight
springs in the hills : Barah, Sekinieh, which flows
to the Subbkha Sneyzele, JidcMla, Gabdra, Belad,
Shingal, Sulahh, which is the Wady Thathar, and
Khersi. There are many sorts of fruit-trees grown
in the \dllages — figs, pomegranates, and others, but
no palms.

This morning Matu came to us, he said, to wish
us good-bye, he had had news from home, and must
be off. “Good news?” we asked. — “Yes, good
news.” His brother had been attacked by the
Sheykli of Sekinieh, but had beaten him off and
killed two of his men, and taken their guns and
mares. Faris has promised to send some khaydl
with him, and he hoped to carry on the war
vigorously with the Sekinins. He wished the Beg
to go wdth him too, and bring his gun. The ofier
was very tempting, as Samdga is not more than
sixty miles from here, and we don’t know how
much or how little is known of these Zediyehs, and
their religion makes them interesting, and we should
certainly accept it but for our engagement with
Mr. S.

Md,tu started later with fifty of Faris’s men under,
whom should you think, but our little friend
Telldl, as proud as a midshipman in command of
his first cutter, and quite unable, in his excitement,
to listen to anything we had to say in the way of

CH. XV.] Telldl Takes his First Command. 335

farewells. Wilfrid had a clasp knife he had been
intending for Tellal for some time past, and which
the boy had coveted. It was now produced, but
the young commander Avas intent on far more
important matters, and had already put away from
him childish things. He was looking to his spear-
point to see if it AA^as sharp, and to his saddle
to see that it Av^as girthed, and could not be dis-
tracted. He gaA^e the knife to an old servant to
keep till he came back, and, Avithout bidding us
good-bye, jumped on his mare, the old retainers
hanging about gmng him good advice to the last.
And so he rode away. He is to collect a tribute
Avhich is due from some tribe or village in the
Sinjdr and, if it is refused, take it by force Avith his
fifty men. He is only twelve years old, but, I will
ansAver for it, he comes back with the booty.

We are now (March 18) becoming anxious for
news of Mr. S. It has been arranged betAveen us
all along that Ave are to meet on the 1,5th, at Deyr,
and he Avas to arrive there if possible a day or two
earlier so as to communicate Avith us, in case he
found an opportunity, at Paris’s camp. We are
already tAvo days behind our time, and still two
days’ journey from the toAvn, but Ave know he Avill
make alloAvance for our want of punctuality, con-
sidering hoAv A^ery difficult a march Ave have had to
accomplish. AVe cannot Avithout appearing unkind
to our host, Avho is noAv, our friend and brother, pro-
pose to leave him Avithout excuse. To-day, hoAV-

336 Bedoimi Tribes of the Euphrates.

[CH. XV.

ever, neAvs came from Deyr, through some wandering
musicians, that a great personage was expected
there from Aleppo ; and we have no longer hesi-
tated to mention ourAvish to depart. Faris, though
sorry that we should lea\"e him so soon, has listened
to all we had to say in the kindest and most reason-
able Avay, and, seeing that we really were obliged to
go, has done all he could to expedite our journey.
In spite of his recent interview Avith Huseyn, and
its friendly termination, none of Paris’s people can
shoAV themselves at Deyr, without danger, except the
mollah, whose clerical character gives him a safe
conduct. This person, then, has been appointed to
accompany us, and at the same time to do a little
piece of business for his master in the toAvn.

The mollah is an important functionary here, not
that he has any religious duties to perform, for pub-
lic prayers are unknown among the Bedouins, but,
being the only man of liberal education in the camp,
he is made use of to read and write all the letters,
and to carry on all the diplomatic negotiations which
pass between the Sheykh and his neighbours, and
this is no small matter, for a great sheykh’s life is
one of constant business. The present negotiation
Faris has shortly explained to us (for since the oath
of brotherhood he has no secrets from us). It is that
of getting Huseyn to pay up the money due to him
for services rendered, and the mollah is to go to Deyr
in the character of dun, and do all he can to squeeze
the Pasha. It appears that the Avhole sum promised

■CH. XV.] The Skeykk's Money Difficulties.

337

was only sixty pounds, but money is very scarce in
the Sliammar camp, and the people are clamouring
for their share of the mejidies. Not that any one
here would call Faris to account for this, only they
consider it an insult to their Sheykh that he should
be kept waiting for his money, and an injury to
themselves to have been made to do the Pasha’s busi-
ness for nothing. “ Here we have been,” they say,
■“ for a whole month doing the work of zaptiehs, and
keeping the peace into the bargain, and all balash.”

Faris asked us what we thought he ought to do,
and we advised him if he really wanted the money
wery badly to march down with all his men and en-
camp just opposite Deyr, and then send in the mollah,
but he said he did not wish to quarrel with Huseyn,
if he could help it, and w'ould use friendly means
first, and thought that we might be able to persuade
Huseyn for him to do this act of justice. “ You
•see,” he said, “ the state of our camp here ; the women
have no clothes to their backs, and the coffee and
^sugar are all done. My people are angry and will
not put up with this for ever, and, although I shall
do my best to keep them quiet, they v/ill be down
on some of the Pasha’s fcllaliin before long, just to
to do themselves justice. And whose fault will it be
then ? ” He requested us also to explain to the
Pasha that some recent raids, of which complaint
had been made, were no doing of his or his people’s,
but of his nephews, IMijuel and Eyssa. AVe asked
him' if he could affirm on oath to us that this was

VOL. I.

33^ Bedouin Tribes of the E^lphrates. [ch. xv.

true and lie did so, lifting up his hand and repeating
‘ Wallah, Wallah,” after the Arab form of oath. We
know that the Pasha would not believe him, if he
had simply stated the thing to us without swearing.

It seems a pity that so much trouble should be
taken for so small a sum, and Wilfrid asked him
whether he could not wait for it, or do without it ;
but he said there was a tajer, or merchant, now in
the camp, to whom he owed ten pounds, and who had
come to be paid. We have seen the man about the
camp, in appearance something like the Kurd who
followed us from Smeyr’s, and whom we sent about
his business. We had a few more mejidies with us
than were necessary for our journey, for travelling
here costs almost nothin^, and were glad of an
opportunity of returning something of the SheykhA
kindness, so we offered to let him have the sum
necessary to pay off his J ew ; and this, after the
hesitation most people make before accepting help
of this kind, Paris agreed to. Ten pounds was not
a large sum, but he was very grateful, promising to
pay it back whenever he should be in funds, and
wishing to give Wilfrid a writing for the money.
But this Wilfrid, of course, refused, saying that he
was a brother, not a tajer. Indeed the Sheykh’s
word is far better than his bond, and it will interest
us afterwards to see whether he remembers this little
debt. At present, the mollah has orders to repay it
out of any money he may get from the Pasha, but
we have told Paris not to put himself out about it.

Ch. XV.]

Paris Refuses the Rifle.

339

and that it will do just as well next year, when,
inshallah, we will return to Mesopotamia. He then
began to lament that he had no mokiira, filly, or
even a colt to give us as a remembrance of him, but
that too, he says, shall be ready for us next year. He
would not take the rifle or the pistol, which we tried
to make him accept, and which he had amused
himself so much with. “ No,” he said, “I am better,
as my fathers were, without firearms, and besides I
have no mokhra. Ail I can do for you is this. My
people shall make you the raft you will require for
crossing the Khabur. They would not do it for the
Pasha, or even for the Sultan, for it is fellahin
work, fit only for the Jiburi, but they will do it for
you, because, you see, you are one of us.” Tt is
agreed then that this shall be done next day, and
that the mollah shall ride with us into Deyr.

March 19. — We left the Shammar camp at
nine o’clock, Paris and a number of his people
riding with us to the river bank — those who re-
mained behind wishing us good-bye, and repeating
such phrases as, “ Our tribe is your tribe, our tents
your tents. Come back to us soon, and we will make
you tents and give you camels and mares. You
shall live with us every winter, and in the summer,
when it is hot, you shall have a stone house to retire
to at Deyr.’’ The “ old man of the mountain,” too,
as Wilfrid calls Rashid ibn Ali, took an affectionate
leave of us, renewing his invitation to Hiyel.

The river Khabur, which is the only tributary

340 Bedottin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xy..

the Euphrates receives during the whole of its course-
through the desert, is a considerable stream, and a
difficult one to cross. It is about sixty yards wide,,
has a strong current, and is very deep, — not an
interesting river, at least where we saw it directly
opposite a mound called Tell Fdddrumi, as it flows
between deep banks of alluvial soil, and has only a
thin fringe of brushwood to clothe its nakedness on
cither side, with here and there a willow struggling
to look like a tree. To one of these a cord had been
tied and made fast to a tamarisk root on the oppo-
site bank ; and, floating on the water, we saw the
most rickety looking thing ever people trusted
themselves to on deep water. It was a square raft,,
made of eight goats’ skins blown out to serve a&
bladders and tied together with a slight framework
of tamarisk boughs. It was at most four feet six
inches square, and lay nearly level with the water’s-
edge. On this we were expected to embark, and I
confess that I had no pleasant anticipations of the-
voyage. But first there was the baggage to be fer-
ried, and the camels and mares to be swum across.

A camel forced to swim is a very ridiculous-
object. He hates the water sincerely, and roars
and moans piteously when he is obliged to face it.
Ours were of course unloaded, and then brought
one by one to the river bank. A man on the back
and half a dozen others to push behind were needed
to get them down the bank, a steep slide of mud,
down which the camels went, . with all their legs

CII. XV.]

Crossing the Khdhir.

341

together, souse into the water. The men, who
were stripped, then jumped in after them, and,
shouting and sj)lashing water in their faces, forced
them on, till at last they were out of their depth
and everything had disappeared except the camels’
noses. Then they seemed to resign themselves,
and swam steadily hut slowly to the opposite
shore, where, fortunately, there Avas a better landing-
place. One of the camels, however, obstinately
refused to approach the bank, and, Avhen other
means had failed, was thrown down and dragged
by the legs into the Avater, when it at last made up
its mind and folloAved the rest. Once on shore,
they all set off, scampering and kicking up their
ungainly heels, at full speed, and Avere Avith some
difficulty got back again by a couple of horsemen.
The mares managed it Avith much less difficulty.

And now our turn Avas come. Hanna, inspired
by the martial company he has been keeping of late
Avith the Shammar, Avith Avhom he has become a
great favourite from his good humour and his good
cooking, insisted upon being the first to cross, and
got over without accident. His A^ehement thanks
to Heaven on landing Avere greeted Avith shouts of
laughter from both sides of the river : for a number
of Jiburi, Avho arc encamped beyond it, had come
down to help and to see the fun. Faris Avas in
high spirits, keeping up a fire of small chaff at every
stage of the proceedings. The Agheyls Avent next,
prudently taking off most of their clothes for fear

342 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xv.

of accidents ; and tlien it was our turn. There
was an old man who acted as ferryman, and with
ourselves and a pile of luggage I thought it more
than a load, when, just as we started, in jumped
Faris too ; and, before we could stop, we were off,
our feet dangling through the framework of the
raft, and clinging to each other to keep ourselves
balanced. As we got to the middle the strain
became too great for the old man, who let go the
rope ; and in an instant we were swept away down
the river, without any means of stopping or guiding
ourselves, and expecting every moment to upset.
But there was no real danger. As soon as they
saw what had happened, every Shammar on the
bank jumped straight into the water, and we had
hardly gone fifty yards before they were around us
and guiding us to shore. There we found Hanna,
wringing his hands and shedding floods of tears,
after his custom, at our loss — a new source of
amusement to Faris, who liad never seen a grown
man weep before. The mirth, indeed, was so in-
fectious that everybody was agog for fun, and poor
fat Ali was made a speedy victim of, and upset in
mid-stream amidst roars of laughter. Fatness is a
never-ending subject of joke with the Bedouins,
who are lean as whipping- posts themselves, and
look upon any other condition as a deformity.

And now the time had come when we were to
take leave of Faris, for he could go no further with
us, as the country between the Khabur and the

CH. XY.]

A Brotherly Fm'ewell.

343

Euphrates is not his district, and the Government
lays claim to it for their tame tribes, the Jiburi,
Buggara, and others. The moment was almost
affecting ; for, though we have known him for so
few days, he has become our friend and our rela-
tion ; and who knows if we may ever see him
again ? He recapitulated to us what we were to
say to the Pasha about his affairs ; and he again
recommended the mollah to take good care of us.
Wilfrid pressed him a second time to keep the
rifle ; but, though he evidently would have liked it,
he persisted in refusing, because he had nothing
to give us in its stead. So we promised to send
him one from England. Wilfrid’s last words to
him were a recommendation to keep clear of the
towns. “ Huseyn,” he said, “ may be an honour-
able man and a friend ; but he is the servant of the
Turks, who killed your father and your brothers,
and who some day may find it to their interest to
kill you. Stay at home. You have all you want
in the Jezireh, and you are safe there ; and, if you
must see the Pashas, let them come out to you in
the desert.” The mollah, who stood by, heartily
joined in this advice, and Paris promised to be wise.
Then they, Wilfrid and Paris, kissed each other,
such being the custom between Bedouin relations ;
and we went on our way.*

* ^Ye learned afterwards that he was nearly drowned going
back across the Khabur, for the raft upset with him, and somehow
got oyer his head, but he w^as pulled out by his people.

344 Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates, [ch. xv.

We liave camped to-niglit under tlie Meze, or
“ Goat Hills,” listening to the cry of the owls in
a ruined town close by us, and meditating a rush
for Deyr to-morrow morning. Mr. S. must have
arrived, for Hdnna has heard from the Jiburi, or
some one, of a great personage with a white beard
having arrived at Deyr.

March 20.^ — -Leaving Hanna and Ali and the
rest to follow, we have galloped with the mollah
to Deyr. From the foot of the hills to the banks of
the Euphrates it is an uninterrupted level plain,
vdthout a stone and thinly turfed with grass — the
perfection of galloping ground ; — and we did the
distance, forty-two miles, in something under six
hours. The sun was scorchingly hot all day, as it
has been for a week past, and the mares were pretty
well exhausted at the end of their gallop, for they
still have their winter coats on, and are only grass
fed. Our supply of corn has been long exhausted.
Still we held on, stopping every four or five miles
for the mollah to overtake us, for his beast was
slow, and could not keep ours in sight ; and letting
our mares feed a few minutes, and then going on
again. We passed several camps on our way be-
longing to the Buggara, where we got milk and
lebben, but we ate nothing all day, so as not to
suffer from the heat of the sun.

Once we passed through an immense herd of
gazelles, many thousands of them, all moving in
the same direction — northwards, and we drove one

CH. XV.]

We Gallop into Deyr.

345

lot before us for a mile or two, coming so near
them that if Wilfrid bad bad bis gun (be bad left
it with tbe baggage) be could have certainl}^ got
several, for tbej Avere packed together. Then we
came upon trufile-bunters, wbo told us tbe town
was jerib, jerih, — near, just before us. There are
three low, isolated bills Avbicb mark tbe direction
from Meze to Deyr, called respectively Hejef-el-
Zorat, Hej4f-el-Wustane, and Hejef-esb-Shamiye,
tbe last being beyond the river.

We Avere beginning to get AAuld for news of
Europe, and for tbe letters Avhicb Ave knew Mr. S.
would bring us, for Ave have bad none noAV for three
months ; and for tbe delight of telling to one Avbo
Avould appreciate them our adA’entures, our diffi-
culties, and our successes. Tbe Consul’s arriA^al,
too, has become A^ery necessary to us, for tbe resto-
ration of our credit Avitb tbe authorities, a credit
rather compromised, we fear, by our flight from
Bagdad. Then nobody knows Avbo has not expe-
rienced it, tbe delight of talking again in a European
language, after having been stumbling on for Aveeks
in Arabic. This thought carried us on Avitbout
flagging to tbe end of our ride ; though the last fiA^e
miles, Avbicb Avere across the lower valley of the
Euphrates, in part cultivated, Avere very severe
upon the mares. I doubt if Tamarisk could haA’c
gone another mile, and I rode her straight doAvn
into the river and let her drink her All. Poor
beasts ! they had carried us Avell.

VOL. I.

A A

34^ Bedouin Tribei, of the Euphrates, [cir. xv.

The mollah was out of the race, and far behind ;
and though we waited two hours on the bank for
the ferryman, who would not hear our shouts, he
did not appear.

This was the hardest part of our day’s work, this
sitting on the river-bank from one to three o’clock
in the sun ; and all the time with the knowledge
that there was a cool room waiting for us, and per-
haps a table spread in the Serai not half a mile
away. Why did not Mr. S. look out of the window
and see us there, and move the lubberly ferrymen
out of their mid-day sleep to release us ? But it
was not to be.

At last we got across, and hurried on to the
Serai. The door stood wide open, and the rooms
were as we had left them. The Pasha’s servants,
too, received us with a smile ; but it was evident
we were not expected. “ Where was the Beg, the
Consul Beg ?” — “ The Beg returned to Aleppo the
day your Excellencies left this house, two months
ago, and has not since been seen or heard of.” —
“ And the great personage who has arrived in the
town ? ” — “ The great personage is Kadderly Pasha,
the new Valy of Bagdad, going to join his post.”

We have had our long ride for nothing. Mr. S.
is not at Deyr !

END OF VOl. I.

BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS, LONDON.

SmjLiR

HviUagte

MOSUi?

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JERIFA

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lui^ 30°, These are the
Ana'teh tribes

winter'

eectendincf Soieth as far OaS

‘bel ITauraji

Bits Nel
Tower of

A Map of the

EUPHRATES DISTRICT

THE LIMITS OF CULTIVATION
and the position of
THE VAFIIOUS BEDOUIN TRIBES
in their Summer Quarters

Scctle cff Statute Miles

36 Longitude East of Greeirvvich

London; John Murray, Alhemarle Street.

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